HOSPITAL, Country Club and Jack Brabham Park users will have better access to parking and facilities within a year after Orange City Council, the state government and stakeholders pooled $5 million to improve the Bloomfield precinct.
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Of those funds, $1.12 million will be spent on reopening access from Huntley Road, including a turning lane and internal road upgrades. The state government will contribute $460,000, the council will cover $485,000 and the Orange Ex-Services’ Club will contribute $175,000.
Orange mayor John Davis said the changes would improve access to the precinct’s rear parking, which would take the pressure off the parking at the front of the hospital.
“This entrance is basically to get a better flow of traffic so it doesn’t all hit the major intersection,” he said.
“For the people who use this for recreational purposes, [it will] get them out of traffic flow of the people who are using the hospital.”
Member for Orange Andrew Gee said the erection of bollards at the Huntley Road entrance in 2011 was a shock condition of consent in the Orange Health Service’s development application and it had been a long process to have it reopened.
“The RMS said, ‘Sorry but with the increased traffic, we’re going to need a turning lane’, then once you get through that hurdle the problem became, ‘Well, we can’t have more cars going into the hospital because the roads aren’t up to scratch’, so they had to be improved,” he said.
“It was complicated, funds were scarce and there were a number of parties that had to be involved in the process, but it’s been a true partnership - the result we have is something that will benefit the community, put a lot of minds at ease and make a lot of people happy.
“These works were crying out to be done and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to do it.”
Work will start in October.
danielle.cetinski@fairfaxmedia.com.au
