A Dubbo resident who has a property on the current River Street bridge route says the existing proposal is a waste of taxpayers money because it will start and end directly in flood waters.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Colin Middleton believes Dubbo residents should be angry and not vote for the National Party on March 23 because that would be the only way to stop the project.
"I live on the banks of the Macquarie River, and I am against the River Street Bridge proposal because it is a waste of taxpayers money," he said.
"A large portion of the route of the current proposal was underwater in the 2010 flood which was the flood that caused the big congestion problems in Dubbo and which started this push for a second high-level bridge.
"Unfortunately this bridge the Nationals want to build comes down off the Newell Highway, it will go underneath the railway line in flood water, and all the way across until it gets to higher country here on my property and then it continues onto council land, then it crosses Macquarie River into River Street.
"Dubbo needs a flood free second high-level bridge but the one proposed is not that, it does not answer that requirement.
Mr Middleton said the River Street Bridge would compromise major city utilities.
"I believe the gas line in West Dubbo and North Dubbo will be greatly impacted, the two separate optical fibre lines, NextGen and Optus will be impacted. The Optus line is likely to need relocating," he said.
"There will be a significant impact on the newly constructed 66KV high voltage transmission electricity line crossing the Macquarie River and Thompson Street supplying Narromine and Nyngan to the west.
"I also think Dubbo's main and connecting sewer lines will be impacted and would need to be relocated, particularly the sewerage main following north from Thompson Street on the western river bank crossing near River Street."
Mr Middleton said there is a simple solution that could meet both flood and traffic mitigation requirements.
"The logical place for building a bridge would be at Troy Crossing which has a low-level bridge at the moment, and that puts motorists straight on to the Newell Highway out of floods reach," he said.
"This has been a flawed project right from the outset. It was railroaded through by RMS and the state Government and the local member without proper and careful consultation with all stakeholders. It is reminiscent of the handling by the current state Government and their decisions on the Sydney stadiums, the bungled council amalgamation mergers and the greyhound industry."
However, Dubbo MP Troy Grant has stated the River Street Bridge would achieve its primary objective to provide a second flood crossing for Dubbo to allow traffic to get from one side of Macquarie River to the other.
“When the Serisier Bridge went under in 2010, the LH Ford Bridge was the only way to cross the river. It was utter chaos," he said.
“In the event of the next major flood that engulfs the Serisier Bridge, the River Street Bridge will allow traffic to get into the northern part of Dubbo, and access the Newell and Golden Highways without diverting through the CBD.”