The permanent closure of the Wolgan Road in 2022 is one of the biggest challenges faced by Lithgow City Council. From day one of the original road failure, Lithgow Council has been working to support the community in the Wolgan Valley providing resources and support to ensure resident access and wellbeing.
After a massive effort by the Council’s administration, an application was submitted at the end of June to the NSW Government for $326 Million in funding for the construction of a new access road into the Wolgan Valley.
The size and complexity of the Wolgan Road project cannot be over-stated. Allowing for all the risks and the sheer scale of the earthworks, the project is estimated to cost $326 million. Lithgow City Council generally delivers $25 Million in construction works per year, positioning this project as the largest ever to be undertaken by Lithgow City Council, or any regional Council within NSW.
The application, which took considerable Council resources to complete, is immensely comprehensive to fully capture the extent of the works and the complexity of constructing a new road on a brand-new alignment in a remote location. Council has invested significantly in geotechnical engineering assessments, cost planning and quantity surveying reviews, civil engineering design considerations and option evaluations by external technical experts to inform the final proposal detailed in the application to Government.
Lithgow City Council Mayor Maree Statham stated, “I hope that this project funding will be quickly approved so that the Council can move to finalise the detailed construction design, environmental and cultural assessments. This will be a project that will take years to deliver but I am confident that Council will achieve that, and we remain committed to ensuring that this critical road is built.”
It is anticipated that the detailed planning and construction of the new road will take around six to seven years, during which time the Council will continue to support the community in the Wolgan Valley.