From Wednesday, major work to repair the surface of the Northern Distributor Road, started in October, will continue when the section between Molong Road and The Escort Way is closed for the next two and a half months to allow $750,000 worth of roadwork to get underway.

Weather permitting work will be completed by the end of March.

Council staff chose to close the entire section of road to speed up the work and because there are no residences, driveways or other access roads along the stretch, council spokesman Allan Reeder said.

“The option of closing one lane at a time, and allowing traffic to flow around the roadworks, would add an even longer completion date to the project,” he said.

“All other sections of the bypass will remain open and detour signs are already in place.”

On average, around 3000 vehicles use the bypass each day - around 1400 cars and motorbikes, and around 1600 trucks, buses or heavy vehicles.

The work will upgrade the overall strength of the road by adding 150 millimetres of compacted gravel to the roadway before it is sealed and council staff will also address sub-soil drainage issues to add to the road’s long-term stability.

Other high traffic areas will also be upgraded beginning this week.

The roundabout at the corner of Kite and Sale streets will be closed between 7am to 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday when around 100mm of damaged road surface will be removed and replaced with a new layer.

“The Kite/Sale streets roundabout is the first of a number where problems in the road surface are being addressed with a different blend of material,” Mr Reeder said. 

“A rubberised material is added to the usual hot-mix asphalt to give the surface a degree of flexibility in areas such as intersections or roundabouts where the road faces extra sideways pressure.”

Work to resurface the roundabout at Hill and March streets is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, and work on the Kite and Anson streets roundabout will also occur soon.

A section of Sale Street between Kite and Moulder streets was re-sealed last week.

clare.colley@fairfaxmedia.com.au