Fixing roads in Lismore in the last La Niña years was a little like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you finish a job and then begin the job again.

Lismore's road network is a critical council and state asset that needs to be maintained considering our regional hub position with the health sector leading the way. Lismore has 37,000 car movements in and out every day.

With less rain and more blue skies, the weather has been conducive to making solid progress on some major roadworks. Already, you can see and feel the progress made around the Lismore CBD.

Three significant road projects have been active for a few weeks now, that is Union Street, South Lismore, Richmond Hill Road, Richmond Hill and Nimbin Road.

The Lismore App went on a tour with Lismore City Council's Chief Operating Officer Brendan Logan to get an update and get more details on how the roads are being fixed.

UNION STREET

The southbound lane of Union Street will be sealed this week, along with the transition to start work on the northbound lane.

Once that job is complete, the LLC roadwork crew will look to extend southwards towards the roundabout at Casino Street in front of the shops.

(From left: Evan Hickling (LCC Team Leader of the Union Street road project), Brendan Logan and LCC engineer and Project Leader Steve Bennett talking about the progress made on Union Street and standing near the new curbing)

"Then we've got what's called stage two and stage three," Mr Logan explained, "Which are the other ends of that project. One that goes through to the bridge near the Winsome and one that goes through to the roundabout on Ballina Road."

The loose timeframe for Union Street to be completed is this financial year.

"Because of good weather and the good performance of our teams, I think we can do more in the financial year than we originally planned."

RICHMOND HILL

Brendan Logan is also happy with the progress made on Richmond Hill Road.

The entire length of Richmond Hill Road is approximately 5km. Some sections have been completed but there is a lot more to do, in what had become one of the area's worst roads, Traffic has increased in the last 5 years with the growth of Goonellabah and more housing at Richmond Hill.

Section 1A is 620m and is nearing completion with 1B sealed before Christmas. 1C is a 440m stretch to be started soon and 1D will start mid-January which will take about three months to complete.

With dry conditions continuing, Mr Logan says timeframes could change.

"We'll probably look to extend that because of the good performance of our crews."

(The next section of Richmond Hill Road to be reconstructed)

NIMBIN ROAD

Nimbin Road had two major landslides forcing the closure of one lane since the February 28 2022 big flood. While progress may appear slow, the work involved to stabilise the area before a new road could be built has proved extremely challenging, let alone the cost.

To give you a comparison, Union Street will cost just under $2 million, Richmond Hill Road just under $3 million, and Nimbin Road will be around the $11 million mark.

(At the worksite nearest the Nimbin town showing the 550 blocks and where the road will be built (left) when construction is complete. Brendan Logan (left), Eugene Yelseth and Russell Ferraris showing the work so far)

The section just before you enter Nimbin's township has finished laying 550 blocks weighing between 1 and 4 tonnes (each block varies in size). Before the blocks were put in place, there were 239 soil nails driven into the ground and a concrete wall created to stabilise the area so the southern lane can be rebuilt.

In some good news for locals, that section of Nimbin Road should reopen in early December.

The next landslide roadwork is only a little down the road, 4km from the Nimbin township, which is planned to reopen in the first quarter of 2024. Work is continuing at both sites.

(The worksite known as Km4 on Nimbin Road with the soil nails in place that will support another wall so the second lane can be reconstructed)

OTHER PROJECTS

To give you a sense of the size and scale of roadwork facing LCC, the Nimbin Road is two of 140 landslide road impacts that need to be fixed. Mr Logan said that on face value, the most challenging looks to be Stony Chute Road, which has eleven separate damages and landslips on it.

"It's going to be a very difficult restoration project. We have a lot less room to work just because of the topography out there and the landslips require an immense geotechnical design and application effort just to make sure that what we build is safe."

The positive is the learnings that can be taken from the two Nimbin Road projects but the unknown is what will be uncovered when work begins adding further cost and engineering complications.

The process of design and geotechnical studies leading to design adjustments can take months in itself, which is then followed by a lengthy procurement process for the correct materials.

On top of that, there are fifteen (15) smaller projects around the LGA to improve the roads, all reliant on government funding.

The LCC 'Fixing Country Bridges' project has finished five of the stated ten wooden bridges that are being replaced by concrete bridges to withstand future flooding impact. The Walsh Bridge on Rosehill Road at Tuncester is the current project with Boomerang Creek Bridge next. The Walsh Bridge is expected to be finished in March 2024.

(The Walsh Bridge support pylons ready to be driven into the ground)

Round 2 will commence with the large Fernside Bridge at a cost of $6 million. The design phase should be completed by Christmas.

FLOOD RESTORATION FUNDING

The LCC is eligible for considerable funding for post-flood restoration work. Mr Logan said we are sitting at under 2% of what has been received compared to what they are eligible for.

"I'm hopeful that the recent work with the Reconstruction Authority is going to see funds flow a lot quicker than that in the future. But to date, we're still waiting on a lot of stuff we're eligible for."

"There will be delays. It just means it's gonna take longer because, obviously, if you don't start you can't finish and if you've received less than 2% of what you are eligible for, that's a lot of stuff that hasn't started."

"I do probably have some frustration about the funding related to the flood stuff because without that certainty we can't mobilise. But, maybe it works out good timing, you know, we finish off all these projects that we put it in this year's budget and then the flood funding comes in and allows us to transform all those high performers in our workforce onto the flood reconstruction."

Whole Asset Rebuild Funding for LCC

While roads is the focus of this story, we asked Mr Logan about the funding for the whole asset rebuild given the delays in some road funding.

"One thing we need is the funding to come from the state. I'm pleased to say that we're in receipt of template funding agreements from them, that need to be shaped up at our end and then submitted back to the state for approval."

"I have a high degree of confidence of the work we're doing with Transport for New South Wales. We will be signed off and in a reasonable timeframe from here. We still have some challenges with the other administering agency Public Works, but we've had some recent discussions with the new Deputy Secretary there James Bolton, and I believe we're gonna get some cut through soon. But at the same time, once we get that cut through, I expect the funding that Public Works are responsible for administering to come through."

"Until we get those agreements signed, and the state provides the money, it makes it very difficult to predict a start date and even harder to tell you when we're going to be finished. The Reconstruction Authority staff Simon (Draper) and Matt Conrow in particular, have been fantastic. We just hope that the constructive pressure that we've been putting on the administering agencies comes to pass soon so those agreements get signed and we get the funds in the bank."