Blue Mountains News

Copies of the Draft Operational Plan can be viewed online at here, at the Council Administration Centre or the Libraries; Lithgow, Wallerawang and Portland.

Did you know…?

The Lithgow Local Government area totals 4,567km² which encompasses the “Seven Valleys” of Lithgow, Capertee, Wolgan, Kanimbla, Megalong, Hartley, and Tarana. Within our Seven Valleys, Lithgow Council is responsible for:

• 877.1km of roads
  • 533.2km of sealed roads (23.4km Regional, 175.1km urban and 334.7km rural)
  • 343.9km of unsealed roads (16.5 km urban and 327.4 km rural)
• 43ac bridges
  • 36 vehicle bridges
  • 7 pedestrian bridges

How do we prioritise our transport infrastructure program?

The Council uses a sound methodology to determine the priority for roadworks funding.

There are a number of considerations which require careful thought prior to resealing a sealed road, resheeting an unsealed road, or sealing an unsealed road. Road classification, traffic counts, ongoing maintenance requirements, tourism routes, heavy vehicle routes, geometric constraints and strategic detour routes are all carefully considered when allocating a limited pool of resources to Council’s major projects.

These decisions are not easy to make and with such a broad variety of considerations, it is essential that Council draws from accurate information.  This ensures decisions made are consistent and aligned to the highest needs of the community. Council also adjusts, revises and improves its priority-setting processes on a yearly basis to best ensure the priorities always reflect the needs of an evolving community and economy.

During 2022/23 – 2023/24 Council proposes to spend in excess of $8.5m on transport infrastructure. Projects include:

• $5m upgrade to Airlie Creek, Coco Creek and Crown Creek timber bridges on the Glen Davis Road in the Capertee Valley funded by the State Governments Fixing Country Bridges Program.
• $347,000 to upgrade Portland streets
• $409,000 to upgrade Wallerawang streets
• $549,000 to upgrade streets in Rydal and Sodwalls
• $322,000 to upgrade streets in the Hartley Valley
• $178,935 to upgrade Wolgan Road, Lidsdale
• $530,000 to upgrade Peachtree Road, Megalong Valley (subject to the outcome of an external grant funding application)
• $1.2m to upgrade streets and lanes in Lithgow

Lithgow City Council will continue its work to keep the community informed of progress with the 2022/23 Transport Program.  We will also continue to seize every opportunity to work alongside State and Federal Government to address local needs including applying for $1.6m funding under round 2 of the Fixing Country Bridges program to upgrade Red Hill Road Bridge in Palmers Oakey, the Rydal Footbridge and Charles Street Bridge in Rydal.

If you would like to know which streets and lanes in your area are included in works programs; visit the Our Place Our Future website to view the Transport Infrastructure program (pages 88-91) in Council’s 2022/23 Operational Plan visit here

The Draft 2022/23 Operational Plan will be on exhibition until 28 May.  Following this, all submissions will be collated and reported to the June meeting of Council for consideration.