Susanna Freymark
The road between Bonalbo and Urbenville has been called all sorts of things – many we can’t print here.
At one time a resident put up a sign calling it Lumpy Street.
Now the ‘lumpy’ end of the Clarence Way will be smoothed out.
8.2km of the Clarence Way will be upgraded in the next 18 months after Kyogle Council secured $10 million through the government’s Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program.
Kyogle Council will contribute another $2.5million, bringing the total value of the projects to $12.5million.
The upgrade will include six sections of the road between Bonalbo and Urbenville.
The upcoming works will include pavement widening and strengthening, bitumen sealing, culvert replacements, and improvements to line marking and road delineation.
The sections of Clarence Way targeted for the upgrade are:
- 1.5km near the Hootons Road intersection
- 700m north of Old Bonalbo Village
- 1.0km near the Murphys Road intersection
- 2.4km between Murphys Road and Falls Road at Bean Creek
- The first 1.3km section of Yabbra Scrub from the southern end
- 1.3km near Blackwood Lane
Works are scheduled to start on the first section near Hootons Road on October 12 with all projects expected to be completed by early 2028.
For years Kyogle Council has been working on Clarence Way.
In January this year, projects at Culmaran Creek and Tunglebung Creek which involved raising road levels by up to 1.5metres were completed to make the highway more flood resilient.
The work cost $7.2million.
Kyogle Council mayor Danielle Mulholland welcomed the additional funding for the Clarence Way.
“Clarence Way is a vital connection for our communities and plays an important role in supporting freight, agriculture, tourism and everyday travel across the region,” Ms Mulholland said.