Forest Road upgrades begins

The road will remain open during construction but there will be delays.

The first of three stages will begin at the Orange Health Service intersection and the installation of traffic lights will follow.

The traffic lights will be placed at the hospital entrance, in line with the entrance of the yet to be built, private hospital.

The traffic lights will be in place because of the large number of pedestrians expected to be crossing between the two facilities. Traffic lights are the safest option in this instance.

There will no parking available at the front of the Orange Health Service during and after construction because of the new, wider road configuration and the installation of kerb and guttering. Orange City Council is working with the Orange Health Service regarding its plans for parking.

The road works will involve the upgrading and widening of the existing road pavement with a hotmix asphalt surface.

Part of the upgrade will include a 2.5 metre wide cycle path on the Eastern side of the road from the traffic lights, down to the southern end of Sir Jack Brabham Park and linking into the existing paths through the park.

The design also includes 120 marked car parks alongside Sir Jack Brabham Park to support increased recreational use of the sporting fields.

During busy sporting weekends many people park along this stretch of road so the design will help create more formal spaces and importantly keep people safe and off the road.

The road will have kerb and guttering on both sides and new street lighting for the full length.

During the next six months of construction Forest Road will be open and access to the hospital will be available via the main entrance but there will be delays.

Other options to enter the hospital are from Huntley Road or from Park Drive (the entrance into the Country Club).

Access for ambulances will be available throughout and they will be prioritised by traffic control when travelling under lights and sirens.

Weather permitting work begins on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Of around 300 trees alongside the roadway next to Brabham Park and the Golf Club, 38 trees will be removed.

The trees will be removed to allow the road to be widened, a new table drain to be built on the western side of the road to improve drainage and to allow for the new 120 car parking spaces alongside Brabham Park.

Stage two will begin in a couple of months and will include the section from the Southern Feeder Road to the TAFE campus. The third section will be from the TAFE campus to the hospital.

In total the upgrade is 1.4 kilometres long, with 2,833 metres of kerb and guttering and 884 metres of storm water pipes.

This project is partly funded by the the NSW Government’s Restart NSW Resources for Regions program and the Australian Government’s Roads to Recovery program.