Work on the Edmondson Street Bridge looks no closer to commencing after traffic plans still remain unapproved. Photo: Chris Roe.
Inland Rail and Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) are yet to give an update on plans for the Edmondson Street Bridge, a month after it was announced the work had been delayed.
On 1 August, Inland Rail announced that it would not be proceeding with the original start date for construction of the bridge in September.
Now, in the week prior to when the works were supposed to begin, neither Inland Rail or WWCC have given an update on the controversial project.
When asked by Region, Inland Rail was unable to give an update on the bridge works but stated it is continuing to work with WWCC.
“Inland Rail is working positively with Wagga Wagga City Council and Transport for NSW on developing the Traffic Management Plan for the closure,” an Inland Rail representative said.
“As soon as we have confirmed the new date for the trial closure, we will inform the Wagga Wagga community.”
Meanwhile, WWCC said it would not be commenting at all.
Inland Rail is a 1600 km freight rail-line project that will connect Melbourne and Brisbane via the Riverina. It is being constructed by the Federal Government-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC). The project is aimed at helping companies send their produce to big cities and ports faster and more efficiently.
Chris Roche from the Wagga Wagga Ratepayers Association has slammed Inland Rail’s handling of the works, stating a lack of planning and a misunderstanding of the affected area had plagued any progress to Inland Rail works in the region.
“The plan is absolutely shocking and it’s clear nobody knows what’s going on,” he said.
“WWCC and Transport for NSW need to approve a traffic management plan before anything can go ahead, but it’s clear that they don’t know what’s going on with Inland Rail either.
“I think the big concern here is that Inland Rail is not talking to us and is not acknowledging the major impact of the Edmondson Street Bridge closure and potentially this two-week trial period that needs to be done to figure out the traffic plan.”
Mr Roche said in an ideal world, there wouldn’t be any discussion or planning about the Edmondson Street Bridge and that work on a bypass completely avoiding Wagga would be under way.
“If they had planned for a bypass like what is being done in Parkes and other places, there would be no issue,” he said.
“They’ve (Inland Rail) known for five years that they were going to knock the bridge down and rebuild it, but have yet to make a traffic plan. Now we’re at the point where work was supposed to start and nobody knows what’s going on. This wouldn’t have happened if they had just listened to the people of Wagga and gone with a bypass in the first place.”
Mr Roche highlighed the discrepancy between the allocated costs for the Albury to Illabo leg of Inland versus the total project cost.
“I’ll give everyone a figure to think about: the project costs upwards of $30 billion, yet the Albury to Illabo budget is $300 million,” he said.
“That’s one per cent of the budget for 11 per cent of the total distance of Inland Rail.
“They’ve clearly gone for the cheapest route possible.”
