Upgrade work on the Eugowra Road at the Mugincoble Silo access has been completed in time for the upcoming harvest. The Parkes Shire Council did the improvement work at a cost of $277,000, of which $170,000 was provided by the NSW Government Fixing Country Roads program, $80,000 by the Australian Government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program and the reminder was funded by Council.
Parkes Shire Council’s Director Engineering Services, Ben Howard, said the upgrade would improve safety and efficiency to vehicles accessing the largest grain receival site in the Parkes area. “The former configuration resulted in a bottleneck in the network as it did not operate efficiently or safely,” Ben said. “This project has provided an improved access road for heavy vehicles accessing and departing the terminal.”
The improved intersection includes dedicated turning and acceleration lanes, and has been designed to accommodate higher productivity vehicles including road trains if required. The turning lanes will significantly improve safety in peak receiving times by allowing heavy vehicles space to wait to turn into the facility on the road without impeding through traffic.
By Cindy Nutley