JANELLE Saffin MP is backing community calls for the removal of five unsafe rail bridges which she says pose a danger to the public and are hampering Lismore’s flood recovery.
“We’ve seen trucks repeatedly hitting the Terania Street bridge and now a similar incident at the Alexandra Parade bridge this week, resulting in traffic diversions which are badly disrupting business activity, emergency vehicles and residential access” Ms Saffin said.
Four bridges are heritage-listed assets managed by Transport for NSW and include Terania Street, Alexandra Parade (near Flick Street), Union Street, and Crane Street (between Barrow Lane and Simmons Street). The Crane Street timber bridge is an extension of the steel rail bridge over Leycester Creek, which would remain in place.
A fifth bridge on Winterton Parade (close to the Lismore Turf Club) is also a Transport for NSW asset but is not heritage listed.
Ms Saffin confirmed she supports Lismore City Council’s October 2023 resolution calling on Transport for NSW to fast-track the removal of all five rail bridges on the floodplain.
“Consultants found these bridges to be “at risk of collapse” so I’m calling for the heads of relevant agencies to meet urgently to discuss their removal because they are hampering our recovery.
“I understand that once Transport NSW lodges an application for removal, this process could be achieved within a month or so, not years.
“I want Transport NSW to support our flood recovery by expediting this matter. This demands urgency not inert bureaucratic responses.”
OBSTACLE COURSE: The rail bridge in Terania Street, Lismore.
