North Creek Road and Bridge
In 2021 Council commenced preconstruction works, including concept design, for the North Creek Road and Bridge project between Forest Oak Boulevard in North Ballina and Skennars Head Road, Skennars Head.
This project will involve reconstruction, widening and raising of North Creek Road to make it less flood-prone, provision of an adjacent new shared pedestrian/cycle path, and construction of a new bridge across North Creek.
Council’s Roads Contributions Plan and Strategic Road Network modelling identifies this project as a required link to accommodate future traffic volumes generated by urban growth areas, and to minimise existing congestion on roads between Lennox Head and Ballina.
The proposed new bridge will follow the same general alignment as the old North Creek bridge that burnt down in the 1970s. See the resources section below for drawings that show the proposed alignment of the North Creek Road works, and a typical cross-section of the pathway and new bridge.
Project timeline
This is a significant infrastructure project which requires long term planning, approvals and investment before works can commence. It's likely there will be many changes over coming years, but at this time, the major program milestones are:
- August 2021 to November 2021 – Flood study to determine road formation height, North Creek bridge length, size and number of culverts in approaches to the bridge. These criteria were sized to minimise flood impacts on upstream land.
- November 2021 to March 2022 – Detailed survey of the existing road and 20m either side of the road centreline (including survey of small sections of adjacent private land).
- December 2022 to May 2025 – Concept road and bridge design, associated cost estimates and preliminary environmental/heritage assessment. This process established the footprint of the road formation and scope of the project. It also identified likely impacts on adjacent private land, planning approval, heritage and the environment.
- June 2025 – Advice to adjacent landowners on the impact of concept design on their land, followed by preliminary consultation and negotiations with affected landowners.
- August/September 2025 – Public exhibition of concept design and community consultation.
- December 2025 – Council considered concept design and cost estimate; environmental impacts and outcomes of landowner and community consultation. Council resolved to endorse the concept design subject to adopting a number of changes to the design arising from consideration of submissions. Council deferred a decision to retain or discard the North Creek Road and Bridge Project with an estimated cost of $72.5 million until a further report is presented in 2026 on recommended changes to the future Ballina strategic road network. This report will be informed by modelling of the network for daily traffic volumes predicted for 2046.
If Council decides to proceed with the project, due to higher priorities (Ballina Bridges Duplication Project), commencement is unlikely for some years, with timelines yet to be determined. In the event the project proceeds, next steps would be:
If planning approval is obtained with satisfactory consent conditions received, then:
- Tendering, selection of contractor, construction by contract and project opening.
Resources
The Concept Design Plan, Cost Estimate, Concept Design Report and associated documents can be accessed via Your Say Ballina.