THE Delungra Bypass Road will remain open in a massive victory for concerned landholders and people who use the road on a daily basis.

Due to safety concerns about the road, particularly a corner on the western end of the road, the Inverell Shire Council was considering closing the road to traffic.

Forty-six submissions were handed to council in relation to the proposed closure of the road, and only four of these supported any closure.

At the council meeting held this Tuesday a number of concerned residents and users of the road let their feelings be known to the council of the impact on them if the road was closed.

Bruce Tomlinson said he bought a property adjacent to the road three months ago, but has lived in the Inverell area for fifty years.

“The state of the road is obviously substandard and unsafe, but it is still a road and we thought you would still maintain it,” he told the council meeting.

“We all pay rates, I have done so for 30 years and so far my bang for buck has been pretty good but there are no options and no plan for this road apparently.”

Kate Davidson shared her concerns for the closure of the road, saying she used the road every day to travel to work in Inverell.

“The Delungra Bypass Road represents 12 fewer kilometres I have to travel to and from work every day and I am only one of 150 people who use the road every day and I am one who travels safely at 80 kilometres per hour.

“It saves time and money to have this road stay open, but sealing the western end and installing traffic warning signs would solve problems greatly.”

Council took the concerns expressed by users of the road very seriously, and the traffic committee that met on September 30 came up with a set of actions to keep the road open while making it safer.

These actions include signage along the road, a speed limit of 80kms/hr, and investigation into sealing the road.

Council voted to support the actions and to keep the road open to traffic.

© 2009 Inverell Times

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