Old Mendooran Road between Boothenba and Golden Highway to be closed

Dubbo Regional Council has made the decision to close the section of Old Mendooran Road between Boothenba Road and the Golden Highway.

Councillors made the decision to close the section of the road at the January Extraordinary Council Meeting. The road was deemed to be a safety risk due to the poor alignment and unsignalised rail crossing in the vicinity.

Between January 2015 and December 2019 there have been five known crashes on the road. Trucks were involved in all of the incidents.

In November, there was another crash between a car and truck. It resulted in the driver and sole occupant of the car dying at the scene.

ALSO MAKING NEWS:

Councillor Greg Mohr, who is head of council's traffic committee, said he would like to prevent any more accidents occurring on the road.

"I drove that road [recently] and I've said before, there's more rubber on that road than at Bridgestone and that's not attached to a tyre. It's a burn out track where hoons go along and do their donuts, especially late at night," he said.

The road closure has already been supported by residents in the area.

Councillor John Ryan said it was "one of the best things" council had done.

"Quite often when you raise the matter of closing, what is seen by locals as a shortcut, there's community backlash... All the locals I've talked to and I've spoken to many people on this issue, they all support that closure. I think that shows the depth of feeling in the community," Cr Ryan said.

"Every time I drive along Boothenba Road and I come up to that intersection I slow down considerably because I'm always fearing someone's going to be coming out either way and their sight lines are frightful."

To close the 540 metres of the road the pavement will be demolished and the area will be returned to natural bushland.

Once the road is closed, the intersection between Old Mendooran Road and Boothenba Road will be corrected to 90 degrees.

It will increase visibility for motorists, leading to a safer intersection.

Mayor Ben Shields said the section of Old Mendooran Road had been "proven to be dangerous and deadly".

"This is something we do need to do... the sooner we get on with it the better," he said.