Forest Road will be open as long as possible during construction of new bridge

Construction of the new railway bridge at Forest Road is expected to take 12 months but planners of the project will be working hard to keep the existing bridge open for as long as possible during that time, according to Orange Mayor, John Davis, OAM.

The new bridge on Peisley Street, at East Fork, will be wider to make it simpler for heavy transport, such as B-Doubles, to use the bridge.

"The $2.5 million project to upgrade the railway bridge in Forest Road is going to be a huge investment in the infrastructure of Orange," Cr Davis said.

"It’s being funded 50/50 between Orange City Council , the NSW Government’s Restart Program and the Federal Government’s Bridges Renewal program.

"The project is in the final design stages before it goes out to tender in the coming months."

Part of the process of choosing the right tenderer for the job, will involve looking at each company's proposals to minimise impact on local traffic flow during the project, Cr Davis said.

Construction work is expected to begin in this financial year and take about 12 months to complete.

"We’ll be asking for the patience of Orange residents when work gets underway but we’ll be doing all we can to minimise the impact of the project," he said.

Part of the planning that happens to minimise the impact takes the shape of a thorough ‘Review of Environmental Factors’ (REF) assessment.

This means a team of consultants looks at not only the bridge itself, but the potential problems that could happen during the construction phase.

"They’ll be looking at factors including detours around the bridge site, and how best to manage traffic flow when the roads and parts of the roads need to be closed," Cr Davis said.

"We want to listen to community views on these matter so the whole REF will be up for comment later this month and residents and businesses in the area will have the opportunity to have their say."

Once plans are in place there will be consultation with those directly affected by the project such as businesses adjacent to the construction as well as Cadia and Orange Health Service.

"Letters will go out to all adjacent property owners. There will be signs, message boards, meetings with Orange Heath Service, Cadia, Orange buses as well as emergency services. We'll be asking the media for assistance and using social media to communicate with residents about any road closures," Cr Davis said.