ROAD TO RECOVERY: Repairs to the road surface of the Mitchell Highway and North Orange bypass will continue until next week. Photo: STEVE GOSCH 0319sgbypass1
MOTORISTS using the Mitchell Highway east of Orange should expect delays over the next week as road repairs are carried out.
Contractors are laying a new surface on sections of road near where the highway meets the Northern Distributor.
Patches of the newest section of the Northern Distributor, which was opened in August last year, will also be repaired.
Orange City Council spokesman Nick Redmond said the work was being carried out under a warranty in place with the contractors, who laid the original surface.
“A thicker surface is being put down, and anyone involved with the building of a road will tell you that it’s not an exact science,” he said.
Mr Redmond said from the time the bypass was opened, traffic volumes exceeded estimates and part of the breakup of the road surface was due to higher-than-anticipated traffic.
He said it was not unusual for warranty work to be carried out on roads constructed for councils throughout the state.
“But the warranties are in place to account for that 1 per cent of work which has to be redone and it is not unusual,” he said.
Mr Redmond says motorists should expect delays of up to 10 minutes between the hours of 7am and 5pm while work is being carried out.
However, two readers told the Central Western Daily they experienced longer waits yesterday of 15 and 20 minutes. Drivers are warned to factor the roadworks into their travel time.