It’s now a good five months since the proposed completion date lapsed for the Nambucca Heads to Warrell Creek Highway Upgrade.
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The winding single-lane old highway around Warrell Creek has been a perpetual thorn in the side of motorists, with at least a prang a week recorded since the end of last year.
But Guardian News has this week received confirmation from RMS that the end is indeed nigh! It’s said the number of weeks until we cross the finish line has finally reached single digits.
“This section is expected to open to traffic in mid-2018, weather permitting,” a spokesperson for RMS said.
“The next steps of the project include completing bridges over Upper Warrell Creek and Williamsons Creek and laying the new road surface for about 1.5 kilometres between the overbridge at Cockburns Lane and the tie-in to the existing highway at Allgomera.”
But Federal Labor candidate for Cowper, Andrew Woodward has cast suspicion over the revised opening date.
“Sure, the ground is broken but there is no road surface in parts; no barriers; no landscaping; no signage and no line marking. The bridge and surrounds at Warrell Creek appear about half finished. I wouldn’t expect traffic will be flowing on all four lanes until the end of the year," he said.
There does appear to be a significant amount of work remaining, particularly towards the southern end of the project.
But after the impressive turnaround on the Macksville bypass which was prioritised to open in December to lessen the impact of holiday traffic, the proof is in the pudding that the road teams can pull together and make magic happen.
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Then the only snag on the road to a fancy-free drive between Sydney and Woopi will be Coffs Harbour.
This week’s announcement that the Feds will put their money where there mouth is with a $971 million contribution to the Coffs Bypass means that squeeze finally has an end in sight too.
Although, as Mr Woodward points out, only $10 million of the nearly billion dollar promise has been allocated in this year’s Federal Budget.
2020 is the expected start date, so perhaps that piggy bank will be filled next year.