Stage one of the Dunns Road upgrade is expected to be complete by December 2022. Photo: Wagga City Council.
Tenders for the design and construction of two intersections for the $8.3 million Dunns Road upgrade have closed.
As part of stages two and three of the upgrade, Wagga City Council is set to build two intersections, at Dunns Road and Olympic Highway and Dunns Road and Holbrook Road.
Stage one of the project includes three phases and is set to be complete by December 2022, weather permitting.
Wagga City Council senior project manager Silas Darby said the ongoing wet weather had impacted work on stage one.
“Protracted periods of wet weather have interfered with progress on the Dunns Road earthworks,” Mr Darby said.
“A pavement seal cannot be applied over a wet surface without the risk of catastrophic failure.
“There must be an optimal moisture content in the compacted gravel and too much moisture could cause the sealing to fail.”
Phase one of the stormwater drainage upgrade is completed. Phase two is in progress with earthworks that include removal of the road’s existing top layers, to be replaced using GPS graders.
Phase three of sealing the entire length of Dunns Road is still pending.
The traffic between the Olympic Highway and Kunzea is closed but residents who live on the closed section of Dunns Road are allowed access.
“We understand the closure is causing inconvenience to motorists who use the road as a short cut between Wagga Wagga and outlying townships such as Uranquinty; however, once completed, the upgrade will improve safety and traffic flow,” Mr Darby said.
The council said motorists should follow the directions of road signage and drive to the conditions.
Stage two of the upgrade will see the council work with Transport NSW to construct a right-hand turning lane at the Olympic Highway and Dunns Road intersection.
Stage three involves construction of a roundabout at the Holbrook and Dunns roads intersection and is subject to receiving black-spot funding.
The Dunns Road project is set to reseal and improve the full length of the road. Nearly 3 km of the 5 km road is sealed.
Dunns Road will bring multiple benefits when completed, including:
- Providing a safe and more direct route to the southern portion of the Wagga Wagga residential area, to the airport and to major sporting and recreational facilities from the Olympic Highway.
- The proposed construction of a roundabout at the Holbrook and Dunns roads intersection, along with the reduced speed limit to 60 km/h on both Dunns and Lloyd roads urban sections only), will increase safety at the intersection, especially on approach to Holbrook Road.
- Improved traffic flow to the outlying townships of Uranquinty, The Rock and the Australian Army base at Kapooka.
- Ensuring all road users have a safe and direct route from the Olympic Highway to the southern suburbs of Wagga Wagga and to the Mater Dei schools via Lloyd Road.
Dunns Road started as an unsealed “goat track’’ that serviced local farmland and became a popular short cut for motorists heading to the south of Wagga.
The narrow, undulated and unsealed road had accidents occurring as the traffic volume increased.
A 2018 traffic count confirmed that 331 vehicles use the road daily at the western end of the existing subdivisional development.
The traffic volume is expected to increase to 1000 vehicles a day when the upgrade is completed.
The Dunns Road upgrade is jointly funded by Wagga City Council ($2.5 million) and the Federal Government ($5.8 million).
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