More footpaths sooner!

Orange City Council will be building more new footpath over the next 12 months thanks to a funding boost from the NSW Government.

Council is one year into its $1.4 million four-year strategy to build more concrete footpaths in residential and business areas of Orange.

Now, thanks to an extra $320,000 from the NSW Government’s Stronger Country Communities Fund, council has brought forward a number of projects originally scheduled for 2019/20 and introduced new footpath renewal projects around aged care facilities.

Last week, Council crews started work at two locations in March Street and near the Catherine McAuley Catholic Primary Schools.

Orange mayor Reg Kidd said he is delighted work has begun on the list of new footpaths for the year.

“There’s a lot of work to do and it’s great that we can work in partnership with the state government to deliver even more upgraded footpaths,” Cr Kidd said.

“Paths near aged care facilities are also in the spotlight. I’m pleased work has begun on a new concrete path outside the Ascott Gardens aged care facility where there was only grass before,” Cr Kidd said an upgrade of the path in Summer Street outside the entrance to Wontama is also on the list, along with improvements in Kite Street nearby the UnitingCare aged care facility.

Orange City Council’s Infrastructure Committee Chair Cr Sam Romano said every footpath in Orange is routinely checked for wear and tear and damage from tree roots.

Council assets management staff then prepare the list of locations for new footpaths for the year.

“There are always difficult decisions to be made whether a new path should be built in one location or another, and there are objective criteria around the condition of the surface, the amount of foot traffic and the site’s accident history that are used to make those decisions,” Cr Romano said.

“The good news is that the list of jobs for the next three years has had extra projects brought into it because of this extra funding.”

CR Romano said the longest new section this year will be a 1.2 km new path in Anson Street from Matthews Ave all the way to Douglas Place.

Below is the list of scheduled projects for the coming year:

• March Street, from Sale to Hill (northern and southern side)

• McNamara Street, Kite to Moulder (western side)

• Byng Street, Sampson to Woodward (both sides)

• Sale Street, from Orana to Casey (eastern side)

• Clinton Street, from Summer to Kite (eastern side)

• Caroline Street, from McLachlan to Edward (southern side)

• Tobruk Crescent, a loop from Maxwell to Maxwell

• McLachlan Street, from Byng to Summer (eastern side)

• Sampson Street, from Prince to March (eastern side)

• March Street, from Spring to Nile (northern side)

• Eyles Street, from Bathurst Road to Ellard Street (western side)

• Sale Street, from March to Byng (eastern side)

• Anson Street, from Douglas Place to Matthews Avenue (eastern side)

• Kite Street, Hill to Sale (southern side)

• Summer Street, from Clinton to Sampson (northern side)

• Sampson Street, from Summer to Byng Street (eastern side)

A map showing the location of the new work, together with footpaths completed in recent years can be found at : https://yoursay.orange.nsw.gov.au/better-footpaths