ABOUT 69 trucks will travel through Dubbo and along the Obley Road daily if Alkane Resources' $1 billion Dubbo Zirconia Project (DZP) at Toongi is approved.
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After they have dropped off chemicals and/or picked up product, the trucks would head off again.
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the DZP reports of an expected 138 truck movements in and out of Dubbo each day if it becomes operational.
The figure represents the "road-only option" and would be reduced if Alkane Resources could get over multiple hurdles to utilising rail.
At the company's offices in Dubbo's Church Street yesterday, managing director Ian Chalmers said the trucks would largely travel on highways to Obley Road.
"I think on the busy...Newell, Mitchell and Golden highways, they won't be that noticeable," he said.
"Certainly, on the Obley Road they will be."
But the impact of increased traffic on Obley Road would be ameliorated by Alkane Resources spending $15 million upgrading it to "B-double standard", he said.
"It will be the equivalent to the Newell Highway," Mr Chalmers said.
Transport was the "key issue" at a community meeting called by Alkane Resources at Toongi on Tuesday night.
Mr Chalmers suggested yesterday morning that it would probably be high on the agenda of people attending a second meeting at Dubbo last night.
Participants at the Toongi meeting asked about the impact of the trucks on residents leaving their properties on the Obley Road and the school bus stopping along it.
Yesterday Mr Chalmers said the company considered the upgrade of the road to be a "satisfactory way" of dealing with the issues raised.
"If you look at the Newell Highway between Dubbo and say Peak Hill, you can see how it works there, and that's how we imagine it will work on the Obley Road," he said.
"It shouldn't impact as much as people think it will."
About 500,000 tonnes of processing materials would be needed by the DZP each year.
Salt would arrive from Victoria via the Newell Highway, sulphur from Newcastle on the Golden Highway and limestone from Geurie on the Mitchell Highway.
Mr Chalmers said trucks coming from Geurie could not follow the Mitchell Highway over the LH Ford Bridge in Dubbo because it was "not B-double rated".
A "preferred path" to the Obley Road is yet to be decided.
Mr Chalmers said talks on the transport of materials and product would be ongoing between the company and the communities of Toongi and Dubbo.
The hurdles facing Alkane Resources in using rail include the securing of "efficient and reliable" train pathing on the Dubbo-Newcastle line through the congested coal train traffic of the Hunter Valley.
The rail option involves the $30 million re-activation of the Dubbo to Toongi line to send a train in and out of Dubbo three times a week, through four crossings and past homes.
Mr Chalmers yesterday considered Alkane Resources had a 50-50 chance of using rail for the DZP.
The EIS indicates the company's wish for a "five-year grace period" to determine if rail is a viable option.
The EIS is on public exhibition until November 18. It can be viewed at Dubbo's Civic Administration Building or at www.planning.nsw.gov.au/on-exhibition.