Bloomfield Street could become a designated heavy vehicle bypass for traffic as part of plans to build a second rail overpass in Gunnedah.
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It’s just one of the options being considered in discussions between Gunnedah Shire Council and Roads and Maritime Services(RMS).
The recommendation would see heavy vehicles travel along Warrumbungle Street which would be designated as State Highway 11 with traffic diverted past the maize mill via a new rail overpass. The mill cannot be touched because it is heritage listed.
A roundabout is likely to be constructed at the intersection of Warrumbungle Street and the Kamilaroi Highway.
Gunnedah Mayor Owen Hasler said the option is one of five being looked at after consultants narrowed the list down from over 20 alternatives.
“It seems to be the likely option,” Cr Hasler said.
The State Government announced $16 million for a second rail overpass in Gunnedah last year.
The move came after lobbying by the community and council, because of increasing traffic congestion at closed rail crossings due to coal trains but also addresses the need for Heavy Mass Load vehicle access through the town, a priority for the State Government.
The situation is expected to worsen when mining ramps up in the region, with longer coal trains expected to travel through Gunnedah every 17 to 19 minutes – causing traffic to back up and cut the town in two.
Council has been working closely with the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), which held the first community drop-in session in December at Gunnedah where 50 people attended.
A preliminary feedback report released by the RMS revealed that members listed a number of concerns during the session – one of them was safety associated with heavy vehicles near schools on Bloomfield Street which is already an Alternate Heavy Vehicle Route.
“It may not be preferable to everybody,” Cr Hasler said.
“Bloomfield Street residents will, no doubt, have a view about that."
“The issue has been raised by schools previously.
“But what is the alternative? We could revert to trying to push heavy traffic down the main street or we ask them to build an alternative route which would be $40-50 million more.”
Currently, heavy vehicles cannot travel down Conadilly Street. They use the Alternative Vehicle Bypass along Bloomfield Street or the rail bridge overpass on Abbott Street which forms part of the Oxley Highway.
If what Cr Hasler calls the “likely option” proceeds, he said Abbott Street could no longer be the state (Oxley) highway and Bloomfield Street would be reclassified.
It would also allow larger trucks to pass through Gunnedah, given the second rail overpass will hold increased heavy mass loads vehicles that can’t currently travel over the Abbott Street bridge.