MOTORISTS heading north on the recently opened Bulahdelah bypass on Monday would have been forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about.
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After a gala opening of the new bypass on Thursday, just three days later the north-bound traffic was again winding its way through the town centre as the north-bound lanes of the bypass were closed for further works.
It will be another month before the highway bypass of the town is complete and able to permanently take north and south-bound
traffic. This did not stop the official opening, with Myall Lakes local member Stephen Bromhead praising the RMS for its work.
“The opening is a testament to the hard work and planning Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) and the project team have put into the project,” he said in a statement on Thursday morning.
The complete bypass will permanently open for business at the end of July – providing the weather cooperates.
The opening of the section will mark the completion of the upgrade of the Pacific Highway to dual lanes between Hexham and Port Macquarie.
The bypass was opened briefly for the start of the school holidays to prevent the usual traffic backlog through the Bulahdelah township.
The $315 million Bulahdelah upgrade, which Mr Bromhead praised for cutting travel times and improving safety and traffic flow in the town, has been met with controversy at the local level.
Before its construction, the route drew protests for cutting through the foot of Alum Mountain, Bulahdelah’s signature natural landmark. Residents and businesses were also concerned at the route’s location so close to the town itself, but still far enough away from the town centre to discourage travellers from stopping in at local businesses and eateries.
In a letter to the Advocate on the day of the official opening on Thursday last week titled ‘RMS is ruining my life’, Bulahdelah resident Carol Newman stated her land on the Pacific Highway had been “decimated by the construction of this new road”, but she said her concerns had fallen on deaf ears.
The pensioner also said a sign she had erected outside her house, highlighting the issues she had with the road, had been vandalised.
“The flooding and erosion of my property could have been avoided with proper design and construction,” she said.
The bypass forms part of a $7.92 billion
Pacific Highway upgrade between Hexham and the Queensland border, which is about 56 per cent complete.
“The (Bulahdelah) project involved building 12 new bridges including twin 245m long bridges over the Myall River and a steel truss bridge providing vehicle and pedestrian access to Alum Mountain Park,” Mr Bromhead said.
