Flooding at Testers Hollow has been a major issue for generations. But, at long last, there is a commitment from the federal and state governments to fix the road.

Its been a long journey from then to now, with not much real action until recent years.

Community campaigning has put the spotlight on just how badly a solution is needed at Cessnock Road or Main Road, as some people call it. Fairfax Media has pushed with its Raise the Road campaign, community members have collected signatures on petitions calling for action and local politicians have exerted pressure on the ruling party.

Newspaper archives from as early as 1927 contain reports of the chaos caused when rain flooded the major road between Maitland and Cessnock two hubs of the Lower Hunter.

The Maitland Weekly Mercury reported on New Years Day, 1927, that the water had cut the road after rising two metres.

A couple of years later, in October, 1929, a Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder report contained details of five people being rescued after the bus they were travelling in hit strife on the inundated road on a journey to Kurri Kurri.

In that same month, the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate called Testers Hollow a flood menace.

Since the opening up of the Maitland coalfield and the construction of the existing road from Maitland through Kurri Kurri to Cessnock, the necessity for raising that part of the road, known as Testers Hollow, has been stressed by local government bodies, progress associations, and engineers, the newspaper reported.

A search of Trove the National Library of Australia shows there has been ongoing talk about raising the road for at least 90 years.

Most recently, the issue came to a head in the aftermath of the April super storm in 2015, when the road at Testers Hollow was cut for more than two weeks.

This was part of the reason the suburb of Gillieston Heights was isolated from the remainder of the community for several days.

The road didnt make it another year before it went under again. In January, 2016, the road was closed for several days. Thats when momentum behind the community campaign and Fairfax Medias Raise the Road campaign started to build.

Within months it became a key federal election issue in the seat of Paterson, with Labor promising $10 million to fix the road and the Liberal Party pledging $15 million.

The state government has been tight lipped on its plans, but a joint announcement with federal Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester this week means that, after decades, a timeline for a fix is on the table.