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 significant 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 are to be 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 (will include survey of small sections of adjacent private land).
• December 2022 to January 2024 – Concept road and bridge design, associated cost estimates and preliminary environmental/heritage assessment. This process will establish the footprint of the road formation and scope of the project. It will also identify likely impacts on adjacent private land, planning approval, heritage and the environment.
• February 2024 – Advice to adjacent landowners on the impact of concept design on their land, followed by preliminary consultation and negotiations with affected landowners.
• April/May 2024 – Public exhibition of concept design and community consultation.
• June 2024 – Council to consider concept design and cost estimate; environmental impacts; outcomes of landowner and community consultation; and decide whether to proceed with and fund the next phase of the project.
• September 2024 to December 2025 – Formal environmental assessment and planning application/approval process.

If planning approval is obtained with satisfactory consent conditions received, then:

• January 2026 to September 2026 – Detailed design and preparation of tender documents for construction.
• October 2026 to January 2029 – Tendering, selection of contractor, construction by contract and project opening.

Resources

• North Creek Road - Layout and Cross-Section (pdf 2.54MB)