Business and pre-Christmas shopping disruption will be kept to a minimum by Narrabri Shire Council as reconstruction of the Maitland Street CBD gets underway next week.
September 15 is the scheduled start date.
Council said there would necessarily be some disruption as the main street is closed off in sequence, one side of each block at a time, as the work proceeded.
However, council said it was conscious of the need to keep the construction as ‘business and shopper friendly’ as possible during the works.
There will be no construction work undertaken from December 1 to January 3.
The main street project is a big one.
The result of the six month, $2,761,390.22 plus GST, Maitland street pavement replacement will be a fully reconstructed CBD streetscape with a smooth asphalt -hot mix -surfaced street from Bowen to Lloyd.
Parking and roundabouts will also be on the agenda for improvements in the final stage of the biggest CBD upgrade project in decades
The work will include the reduction in size of some of the garden beds to make room for more parking, replacement of roundabout pavers at Dewhurst and Doyle streets with new concrete aprons, rebuilding kerbs and median areas in Dewhurst and Doyle Street areas to improve visibility of pedestrians, tar patching at the trenched areas of Lloyd and Bowen street roundabouts and line marking.
TIMELINE FOR THE BIG MAIN STREET REBUILD
A statement from council outlines the CBD timeline past and future.
“The road pavement component of the CBD project has always been scheduled to commence prior to the Christmas shopping period and be completed in the New Year,” a council spokesperson said.
“Council has been working towards completion of the road pavement for several months, having performed extensive investigations of the road subgrade and base layers when excavation works were undertaken as part of the water main replacement in the CBD earlier this year to ensure the design will be fit for purpose.
“This type of project is complex requiring engineers and other technical experts to complete thorough investigations and design processes to ensure the finished product meets the requirements of the community.
“Council has provided timelines to CBD businesses and the wider community since July about the work and processes involved to complete the Maitland Street road pavement upgrade.
“Council is committed to this schedule and will continue to work with businesses and the community to keep them informed of upcoming works.”
Timeline:
– May (end of): Water main project completed
– July: tender documentation finalised
– July: tender open to market
– August 11: tender closed
– August 25: tender awarded to Daracon Pty Ltd
– September 15: construction to commence
– December 1 to January 3: Christmas shut down
– January 4: works recommence
