The council posted on its Facebook page alerting motorists to the change, saying it was to "ensure the safety of showground users for the duration of the nearby roadworks".

The entrance will be blocked off for the four months View Street is closed for the new Gunnedah bridge project, but it will be open for the Gunnedah Show "in cooperation with the Gunnedah Show Society".

The entry on South Street will remain open for access to the showground.

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Locals took to Facebook to voice their opinions on the matter, with many saying the closure was to deal with people using the showground as a short-cut around the roadworks.

Many were against the closure, though.

"This hasn't ensured safety of showground users, it's made it worse ... Won't be long before a child is hit," Jess Keynes wrote.

Simone Law agreed, and said the gates "should've been left open".

"It has made it more hectic. You have so many school kids walking etc and now traffic clogging up the roundabouts near the butchers and also South Street," she wrote.

"What a bloody nightmare it is now. Drive halfway around town just to enter into the showground."

With View Street closed between the skate park and the Oxley Highway roundabout for the bridge project, motorists need to detour to Hunter Street in order to access the other end of View Street.

New Street is now open for motorists.