State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin has shared a Transport for NSW (Transport) update on progress with removing rail bridges in Lismore.

Ms Saffin said she sought briefings in response to ongoing inquiries from community members.

Alexandra Parade, North Lismore

Transport is continuing to monitor the current road arrangements at Alexandra Parade and is not aware of any recent incidents in this location.

Transport has been working with Lismore City Council to develop proposals for a permanent detour route around Alexandra Parade, past the Lismore Showground and across the disused rail corridor. This would allow the road under Alexandra Parade to be closed in the short term prior to obtaining agreement from Heritage Council to remove the structure over the road. 

Transport has recently received costings and detailed design for this detour work from Council with the cost estimate to construct the detour considerably more than Transport had originally estimated, so Transport is reconsidering this option to test value for money.

Transport is now assessing the proposal to determine whether the detour should be implemented, given that the current arrangements are working reasonably well as a short-term solution, while it assesses the proposed longer-term future of the Alexandra Parade structure.

Other Lismore rail bridges and Heritage permissions

One of the conditions of the Terania Street bridge removal s60 approval was that Transport must submit a curtilage amendment request, which includes an updated heritage assessment for the remaining Lismore rail bridges to the Heritage Council of NSW.

On 2 April 2025, an extension of time for the original approval was granted by the Heritage Council, giving Transport until 30 June 2025 to submit this request.

Transport is now preparing a heritage significance assessment to submit to Heritage Council before the 30 June 2025 deadline to meet the requirements of the condition. A draft version of this document is in preparation. 

The current proposal is to amend the heritage curtilage to exclude both Alexandra Parade and Union Street bridges from the overall State Heritage Register listing.