Work is complete on a $64 million project to repair the damage caused by the 2019-20 bushfires on New South Wales’ road and transport network.
The bushfires had impacted 880km of NSW’s road network, damaging guard rails, bridges and signs as well as the state’s Main West railway line.
Crews have worked tirelessly since the fires to clear and repair the road and rail network and to make it more resilient to bushfires in the future by clearing additional vegetation in high-risk areas and replacing burnt culverts with new pipes which are more capable of withstanding bushfire impacts.
The recovery effort saw 2,000 signs and 30km of guardrail replaced, as well as the clearing of thousands of trees.
The state’s Main West railway line though the Blue Mountains was also restored to full capacity last month after more than 150,000 man hours went into rebuilding the track infrastructure damaged by the fires and subsequent flooding.
Crews replaced more than 50km of fibre optic cables and 37km of high voltage power lines damaged in the fires and rebuilt the signaling system between Mount Victoria and Lithgow.
NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Paul Toole, said, “From the Gwydir Highway in the north to the Kings Highway and Princes Highway in the south to Jenolan Caves Road in the Central West, the damage to State roads was immense.”
Mr Toole said the recovery effort would not have been possible without the tireless work from more than 850 people from Transport for NSW, local businesses, councils, emergency services and contractors.
“It has been a mammoth effort right across the State that has taken over three months to complete,” Mr Toole said.
Mr Toole said Transport for NSW was continuing to work closely with fire-affected councils to assist with recovery and restoration of local roads infrastructure under the Disaster Recovery Funding arrangements.