Boggabri Business and Community Progress Association has welcomed the news that the Grain Valley Road will be completely sealed.
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In September, association members told the NVI that the town lost tourism because travellers avoided using the road, instead using the Oxley Highway and going through Gunnedah.
Association president John Shaw said he was happy to hear that the remaining 17.4km of gravel road will be sealed following the announcement of state funding on Friday.
“This is some of the best news we’ve heard in a long time and we welcome any sealing of that road because we realise how important it is to Boggabri and Boggabri’s future,” he said.
“It will make a big difference to us tourism-wise in that it will encourage people to take a different route and Boggabri may get a spin-off from that.
This is some of the best news we’ve heard in a long time.
- John Shaw, Boggabri Business and Community Progress Association
“Freight-wise, it will be absolutely essential if the inland rail is going to go through Narrabri as they envisaged.
"And the other factor is that it is a step in the right direction towards what was envisaged back in the 1990s when there would be a sealed road from Gilgandra to Inverell.”
Mr Shaw said he acknowledged the hard slog that Mullaley residents have had over the past decade as they lobbied the three tiers of government to complete the road.
“We also pay our tribute to those long-suffering residents out along that road who have waited years and years to have that last section actually completed,” he said.
