They voted to approve the bridge, which will allow Orange City Council to call for tenders on the project. 

Councillors first resurrected the Franklin Road idea in October. 

However, councillor Glenn Taylor said it needed to be pushed forward so traffic could cross the railway line in another location.

“I don’t want the council to get the blame for what’s going to happen,” he said.

“It will happen, we will be blamed and I’m so sure we’re going to have major, major issues with this.”

With some councillors asking about traffic flow through the construction site itself, technical services director Chris Devitt said southbound traffic would be prioritised, but final plans were a matter for the contractor.

“We want to adopt the methodology that will get us out of there as soon as possible,” he said.

The bridge works will be managed by the council, using state and federal government funding. 

The successful quote will need to be decided by September for work to start soon after. 

Construction will take 12 months.