A reconstruction of the Guyra main street is set to begin this Monday, as a major step to upgrade the town’s central business district.
In preparation for the Bradley Street roadworks, a Council crew t began preliminary works to repair sections of curb and guttering.
The roadworks will improve the road’s profile – reducing the slope from the centre to the road edges – and its alignment with the footpaths, as well as upgrading the road surface.
“This will significantly improve safety for motorists and pedestrians, while enhancing the appearance and feel of the CBD,” Armidale Regional Council Mayor Simon Murray said.
The $700,000 roadworks will restructure the section of Bradley Street between Nincoola Street and Ollera Street and contractors BMR are scheduled to complete the works by Friday 27 September.
“We’ve received EPA confirmation that soil contamination issues have been properly dealt with and we’re moving to get the roadworks done before the October school holidays, to minimise the inconvenience to businesses and shoppers,” Councillor Murray said.
“To further assist traders, the works will be done in stages to minimise the length of time each section of road is closed to traffic.”
Council officers have been liaising with main street businesses this week to discuss the works and plan arrangements to prevent disruptions.
Water for the roadworks will be sourced from one of Council’s bores, rather than using the town water supply during the ongoing water restrictions.
The start of roadworks marks the start of Stage 2 for the Guyra main street upgrade.
The $600,000 first stage included main street upgrade designs, identifying and remediating disused fuel tanks beneath the road and footpaths, dealing with soil contamination caused by the fuel tanks, inspecting infrastructure beneath the road and assessing the structural integrity of shop awnings.
As part of Stage2, Council is liaising with property owners to address any structural and safety issues with the awnings. In additional, Essential Energy will this month begin planning and designs for electricity infrastructure along Bradley Street, to remove powerlines from the shop awnings.
“Once the road restructure and resurfacing is complete, we can then proceed with new traffic furniture and street scaping,” Cr Murray said.
“Public safety is a major emphasis of the main street upgrade, from improving the road profile and surface to getting powerlines away from the awnings and dealing with the long-standing issue of fuel-contaminated soil.
“Restructuring and resurfacing Bradley Street between Nincoola Street and Mackenzie Street is scheduled to be undertaken as Stage 3 in the 2020/21 financial year,” he said.
“Most of the disused fuel tanks were located in this section and there is still further remediation required for this site.”
