Staff Writer
110 bridges in five years – Kyogle Council has been busy and the opening of Montgomerys Bridge marks the completion of the $80 million Bridge Renewal Program.
The new Montgomerys Bridge on Iron Pot Creek Road cost $3.3million and it is expected to open to traffic at the end of next week.
For residents west of Iron Pot Creek it has been a wait of almost six years for direct access for Iron Pot Creek and Ghinni Ghi residents who have had a 16-kilometre detour each way since the old bridge was closed for safety reasons in November 2020.
Construction began late last year and has now reached the final stages, with crews finishing bridge barriers and guardrails before the bridge opening.
Mayor Danielle Mulholland said the council acknowledges that the bridge closure has not been easy for Ghinni Ghi and Iron Pot Creek Road residents.
“We worked really hard over a number of years to secure funding for this project. We put in several applications under the Fixing Country Bridges Program before finally winning a Regional Roads Program grant as a part of the State Election Commitment announced in mid-2024,” Ms Mulholland said.
In the past five years, Kyogle Council has built 110 bridges across the LGA, replacing ageing timber structures with modern, safer and more flood resilient bridges.