Building Better Roads

The first stage of Orange City Council’s recently-announced ‘Building Better Roads’ action-plan to re-surface the entire length of the city’s northern bypass has begun.

Work on the 600 metre section of the road between Leeds Parade and Astill Drive will generally involve removing 150mm of the existing granular pavement and replacing it with hotmix asphalt. The new asphalt will be 220mm thick overall, meaning the final level of the road will be 70mm higher than it currently is.

Orange City Council will spend an extra $6.5 million on road works over the next two years, on top of the $6 million in the current budget.

Announcing the proposed spending boost, Mayor John Davis and Orange City Council Infrastructure Committee chair Cr Glenn Taylor said the additional funding over two years will ‘hotmix’ the entire bypass.

“There has been plenty of talk about the bypass. Now is the time for action,” Cr Davis said.

“While funding boosts in recent years have delivered significant improvements in some sections of the local road network, the performance of other high profile roads such the bypass has been below the level of service the community expects.”

FUNDING: Infrastructure Committee chair, Cr Glenn Taylor, is looking forward to the entire length of the northern bypass road being re-surfaced with hotmix, a surface better-suited to deal with heavy transport.

Orange City Council Infrastructure Committee chair Cr Glenn Taylor said most of the remaining sections of the bypass will be re-surfaced with hotmix this financial year, and be completed in the following year.

“The first step will begin as soon as next month when the damaged surface of the bypass between Leeds Parade and Astill Drive will be replaced. This extra funding will not only be limited to the bypass. Other key roads in the city will also get a lift.”

It is proposed the extra $6.5 million will be spent over two years. This figure includes $4.93 million of Council funds and around $1.5 million of additional Federal Government ’Roads to Recovery’ funding, over the next two years.

The Mayor and Cr Taylor said that while the bypass had been incredibly successful in removing heavy vehicles and other through traffic from Summer Street and opened up the north for industrial, commercial and residential development the surface of the road hadn’t lived up to the community’s expectations.

“The council’s own engineering staff and independent expert advice have confirmed that the underlying load-bearing pavement of the bypass is sound. What’s failed has been the gravel bitumen seal on top,” Cr Glenn Taylor said.

“The bypass has taken thousands of cars and heavy trucks out of the main street of Orange. And it’s doing some heavy lifting for the highway,” Cr Glenn Taylor said.

Cr Davis said the sections of the bypass where hotmix asphalt has already been used are the places where it’s in the best condition.

“When drivers use the road on either side of the railway bridge, the value of spending more on hotmix can be immediately seen,” Cr Davis said.

“It’s the same story around the bypass intersection with Escort Way where hotmix is standing up to the extra traffic that’s using this road. While other treatments are suitable for some roads, hotmix is the preferred option one some high traffic roads.”