Larry’s Cafe is just one of the businesses that will be affected by the closure of the Edmondson Street Bridge. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Business owners surrounding the Sturt Highway have expressed concern about losing business during the redevelopment of the Edmondson Street Bridge.
As part of works to construct a new inland rail route though Wagga Wagga, the Edmondson Street Bridge is set to be rebuilt. The bridge is expected to be out of action for 18 months starting in September. Inland Rail and Wagga Wagga City Council are in the process of planning a two-week closure of the bridge to get a better understanding of the traffic implications prior to the works.
One of the businesses expected to be interrupted by the work is Larry’s Cafe. Located at 10 Best Street, a street that connects to Edmondson Street, the cafe is one of the first businesses commuters see after coming off the bridge.
“The reality is, the works on the bridge will move our customers away from us,” Larry’s owner, Sebastian Beard, said.
“We are expecting to be negatively impacted. Parking is already a big concern for us here, and travelling through here is already difficult. With the bridge closed, that situation won’t improve at all.”
Mr Beard said businesses on the Sturt Highway side of the bridge had received little consultation from Inland Rail, and it had been up to the businesses themselves to reach out to the project organisers.
“We haven’t really been consulted as such; we initiate consultation rather than anyone approaching us,” he said.
“The owner of the Best Street McDonald’s and I had to initiate a sit-down meeting with Inland Rail, which is set to happen in the next week or so.
“The fact that we are doing this with only a month or so until the works are set to begin shows poor planning from their side.
“The reality is that there’s no benefit to our business, no benefit to any of these businesses, for this work with interruption. And I think the other, the other really frustrating thing, is that the actual length of the close is only due to the number of times they’re able to close the tracks.”
Inland rail is a controversial so-called “nation-building” project to construct a freight line that will travel from Brisbane to Melbourne, using the existing railway line in Wagga Wagga that cuts through the CBD. The existing bridge is too low to allow double-stacked trains to make the journey as planned.
Inland Rail Project Director, Albury to Illabo, Malcolm Clark spoke on Inland Rail’s consultation with nearby stakeholders earlier this year.
“The new Edmondson Street Bridge will provide a much-improved crossing point, which will benefit drivers and pedestrians,” he said.
“We are working with Transport for NSW and Wagga Wagga City Council to finalise our Construction Traffic and Transport Management Plan and associated sub-plans to minimise impacts to the community as much as possible.
“We acknowledge that the closure of Edmondson Street will lead to unavoidable traffic delays, and we are currently working with key stakeholders, including Transport for NSW and Wagga Wagga City Council to develop mitigations to reduce these delays as much as is practical. We thank the Wagga Wagga community for their patience and understanding throughout these important works at the time.”
