The $5.6 million rehabilitation of Dobney Avenue and Pearson Street has almost hit the halfway mark, with night works now underway on Pearson Street.
The upgrade of Dobney Avenue wrapped up on Wednesday night (18 May) with the final seal laid at the intersection with Chaston Street.
Dobney Avenue & Pearson Street Upgrade
The rehabilitation project involves milling out the existing road pavement and putting in a thick continuous layer of asphaltic concrete pavement along Dobney Avenue, then Pearson Street, and finishing with the two roundabouts outside Bunnings.
Wagga Wagga City Council’s Director Infrastructure Services Warren Faulkner said recent rain events had slightly delayed the planned completion of the Dobney Avenue works.
“We have lost about six shifts because of adverse weather since the contractors (Fulton Hogan) began night works on 20 April, but the crews have been powering through this week, applying around 700-800 tonne of the asphalt overlay material each shift to complete the Dobney Avenue phase,” Mr Faulkner said.
“I think people will have noticed after each night of the work being done that there is a noticeable difference to the quality of the road, in particular the smoother drive.”
Night works on the Pearson Street section got underway at the Edward Street end on Thursday (19 May), with traffic being detoured via Dobney Avenue between 6pm and 6am.
The road will be reopened to traffic during the daytime.
Mr Faulkner said Pearson Street has a greater crossfall than Dobney Avenue.
“That will certainly be a challenge in terms of doing each segment of the road to transition back up to the existing kerb level, as well as half the road to make it trafficable the next day,” Mr Faulkner said.
“We’ve got to do it in small 100 metre sections on alternate sides of the road for each night shift to be able to do those extra works to reshape the road so that the crossfall is not as steep in order to improve drainage as well as the ride.
“We’ve got probably another 22 shifts to complete all of the Dobney Pearson rehabilitation work.
“We ask for the continued patience and understanding of motorists and adjoining businesses as we work towards completing this important project on two of the busiest roads in our city’s sub-arterial network.”
The $5.6 million project is 75 per cent jointly funded by the Australian Government in association with the NSW Government through its Fixing Local Roads program, with Wagga Wagga City Council providing the balance.
