New bridge paves the way for traffic onto Burley Griffin Way

The Wallendbeen community and a handful of workers gathered for last week’s official opening of the temporary railway overpass bridge by Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke. Photo: Supplied.

Traffic is flowing along Burley Griffin Way after the official opening of a temporary bridge at Wallendbeen last Friday.

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said the opening of the bridge was an important milestone for both the local community and the freight industry, which had faced lengthy detours since the original overpass was pulled down due to heavy rain in March.

READ ALSO: Construction begins on temporary bridge at Wallendbeen

“We are so pleased this temporary bridge is now in place to allow motorists, including those driving heavy vehicles up to 4.2 metres wide, to once again drive the length of Burley Griffin Way without the need for lengthy and time-consuming delays,” Ms Cooke said.

“It’s especially significant for the freight industry, as this route links the Hume Highway to the Riverina and the Olympic and Newell highways.”

Ms Cooke said the project team had been working since June to get the temporary bridge open to traffic as soon as possible with up to 100 workers employed on the project.

“This bridge is comprised of modular, pre-engineered steel parts, which allowed it to be built on-site and installed in a short timeframe,” she said.

“Multiple crews then carried out additional weekend and overnight work to build the road approaches to connect traffic with the bridge and install the portable traffic lights that will manage the flow of the about 1000 vehicles that use the road each day.

“This is going to vastly improve traffic conditions for motorists while work continues on a permanent solution,” Ms Cooke added.

She said design work on the permanent crossing is underway, with a final design expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Transport for NSW have confirmed they will share the final design with the community in early 2022 once it has been finalised, along with a timeline for work on the project.