Orange City Council has written to residents in the neighbourhood of a planned upgrade in Ophir Road.
The Council received funding from the NSW Government’s Safer Roads Program to complete a road upgrade of Ophir Road from Bridge 1 to Bridge 2, with an updated budget of $700,000.
SAFER ROADS: The first stage of roadworks will be on Ophir Road north of the Banjo Paterson Way intersection to bridge 2.
Council first wrote to residents about the project in May last year (2021) outlining that the proposed roadworks were delayed due to the identification of Naturally Occurring Asbestos (NOA) under the existing road. This is a natural material that is commonly found in this area, north-east of Orange.
NOA is a stable form of asbestos which is only a concern if it is disturbed in an uncontrolled manner. Further information regarding naturally occurring asbestos can be found at the New South Wales Government Safe Work website.
Following the positive identification of NOA, the road design has been changed and there is now a deeper layer of clean gravel going over the existing road.
Orange City Council has detailed procedures for undertaking road works in areas where there is NOA.
Orange City Council is planning to begin the Ophir Road works on Monday 17 January 2022, weather permitting.
To safely complete the works, construction works will be completed in 2 stages, with stage 1 being Ophir Road north of the Banjo Paterson Way intersection to bridge 2 and stage 2 being Banjo Paterson Way and Ophir Road towards Bridge 1. The works are planned to take 6 weeks, weather dependent, with breaks between construction activities.
Stage 1 of the project will involve temporarily closing Ophir Road to all traffic from the northern side of the Banjo Paterson Way intersection to Bridge 2 for a duration of 4 weeks, weather dependent. Detours will be via the Northern Distributor Road, Clergate Road and Cullya Road.
