The Armidale Regional Council (ARC) has delivered the largest road project ever undertaken by a New South Wales council, the $408 million reconstruction of the Kempsey Road, which was damaged during multiple extreme weather events.
The reconstruction is jointly funded by the Federal and New South Wales Governments,and marks a significant turning point in the transformation of ARC.
The road was severely damaged by bushfires at the end of 2019 and subsequent flooding in 2020 and 2022 meant the road was impassable and had sustained substantial damage.
The road is an important corridor and traverses steep and challenging terrain, which links Armidale and the coast, it also supports agriculture and tourism industries in both the Armidale and Kempsey regions.
The heavy lifting undertaken by ARC staff during the last two years, driven by a new Executive Leadership Team, has restored the organisation to a high performing team, and made ambitious projects like the road reconstruction possible.
The transformation has been led by a general manager and a new council that has set an ambitious jobs and growth strategy, and understands the importance of its people.
General Manager at ARC, James Roncon, said the Kempsey Road reconstruction project has benefited from the solid work that has been undertaken to change the fortunes of the organisation and transform it to a culture and a workplace that people now want to work in.
“If we hadn’t put culture and people first we wouldn’t be attracting the high calibre staff to this project and ARC more broadly. Transport for New South Wales and the Federal Government can be confident in their decision to award ARC the funds to get this project completed,” Mr Roncon said.
The reconstruction of the Kempsey Road will restore 43km of the Kempsey to Armidale Road and 5.1km of Lower Creek Road to pre-disaster conditions.
In addition to the restoration work, the New South Wales Government has approved three improvement projects to be carried out at the same time and to build back better in order to improve the road’s resilience in case of future natural disasters. These projects are funded through the Fixing Local Roads and Fixing Country Roads programs to improve sections of the road at Blackbird Flat, Flying Fox and Big Hill.
“This is a complex project across difficult and steep terrain,” Mr Roncon said.
“It’s a road we inherited and we are pretty keen to give it back to the New South Wales Government. ARC is now building the right staffing and resource base and is well and truly up to the challenge and will pass the baton to the New South Wales Government once we’ve successfully delivered the project.”
Feature image: Reconstruction of Kempsey Road. Provided by Armidale Regional Council.
