At its meeting this week Singleton Council voted t approve the spending of $350,000 on the reconstruction of Lemington Road.
The funding for the reconstruction works comes from the Wallaby Scrub Road restricted asset account and will once completed enable the road to be reopened following its closure on 17 February 2023.
Prior to its closure earlier this year Singleton Council had been monitoring longitudinal cracks along a section of Lemington Road and through a scheduled inspection noticed that the cracking had increased significantly.
Council engaged a geotechnical engineer to undertake an assessment of the road condition and was advised that the road should be closed due to risk associated with potential sudden road failure.
Prior to the road closure Council officers contacted the adjoining landowners and advised of the road closure. Council officers also notified emergency services and the general community through letter box drops and a social media post.
The road has remained closed whilst Council engineers worked on various scenarios to remedy the situation. Council officers have worked with staff at Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) to develop options to reopen Lemington Road.
Lemington Road is regularly closed at Moses Crossing due to flooding in the Hunter River. Following the July 2022 floods, Lemington road was closed at Moses Crossing for several months due to river heights and debris on the bridge and approaches.
If the Hunter River rises again whilst the road is closed two residential properties will be isolated and emergency services will not be able to access the properties.
Lemington Road is utilised by Transport for NSW as a detour when incidents occur along the New England Highway between Lemington Road and the Golden Highway/New England Highway Intersection at Belford.
With Lemington Road closed, the available detour is via Muswellbrook - Denman and then along the Golden Highway to Belford.
The reconstruct work approved by Council will result in a lowered Lemington Road to remove excessive load on the adjoining embankment and re-open with two lanes of traffic. The road would operate at full capacity with no load limits or traffic controls in place. However, a speed reduction would need to be implemented.
Louise Nichols
From cattle to coal. Once a specialist agriculture writer today its about community, in particular, the Upper Hunter. I have lived and worked in the region for more than 30 years. Land use issues and the future direction of our region. But you cannot take ag out of the picture - our food and how we grow it is the basis of all life. Covering the Hunter and Mid North Coast rural issues is now part of my role with ACM.
From cattle to coal. Once a specialist agriculture writer today its about community, in particular, the Upper Hunter. I have lived and worked in the region for more than 30 years. Land use issues and the future direction of our region. But you cannot take ag out of the picture - our food and how we grow it is the basis of all life. Covering the Hunter and Mid North Coast rural issues is now part of my role with ACM.
