“YOU can put lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig. It’s the same thing with the bridge – you can dress it up a little bit, but it is still an old bridge.”
This is the reaction from Piangil resident and business owner Trevor Tobias, reflecting the majority of Tooleybuc and Piangil community feelings at the decision made by Transport NSW this week over works on the embattled Tooleybuc Bridge.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway announced that after taking into consideration the feedback provided by more than 100 community members, work on the bridge would be carried out between 4.30pm and midnight, Sunday to Thursday, for six weeks.
“Impacts to school students and buses were a concern, so the work schedule will allow school buses to run normally with no changes for students,” Mr Farraway said.
“We know that local businesses would prefer work wasn’t carried out during holidays, so work will start Sunday, July 24, to allow the project to be completed within the NSW and Victorian school term.
“The schedule also allows the bridge to be open from midnight Thursday night through to 4.30pm Sundays for weekend travellers, and midnight to 4.30pm weekdays, when the bridge experiences its highest traffic numbers.”
Independent Member for Murray Helen Dalton said the Tooleybuc community and the Murray electorate had again been ignored by the NSW Government.
“The communities’ preferred option was always a new bridge, never periodic closures – this is nothing more than a Band-Aid solution and it does little to address the main issue,” Mrs Dalton said.
“Of course we need to carry out maintenance, but this bridge was constructed in 1925 and has had its day and needs replacing.”
Mrs Dalton was also dubious about whether the works would be completed in the six-week timeframe, particularly considering it is happening during the middle of winter.
“I can see this dragging out longer than the proposed timeframe, inconveniencing the community and putting them at unnecessary risk,” Mrs Dalton said.
“What happens if there is some sort of emergency during the closure period and an extra hour is added on to the trip – this could be the difference between life and death.”
Tooleybuc hotelier Kieran Hogan said Transport for NSW had made a mistake in the time they allotted to close the bridge, with 4pm to 8pm being a crucial time for Tooleybuc businesses to get their customers into the town.
“Everyone had a say, but it seems like the businesses were left out again,” Mr Hogan said.
Predicting a loss of about 60 per cent of his business while the works were completed, Mr Hogan said he had already had cancellations coming in for that time.
“We will see what will happen at the end of the day, but it is going to be a hard six weeks.”
For more information on the Tooleybuc bridge works and to keep up to date, go to roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/tooleybuc-bridge/index.html.
