The bridge over Cowriga Creek on the Carcoar Rd between Carcoar and Brown’s Creek / Forest Reefs / Millthorpe, has been closed to traffic since November 2011.

In April of 2011 the load limit on the bridge was reduced to three tonnes, but a further inspection in November of that year identified that structural elements on the bridge had further declined. The recommendation was then made to council to close the bridge.

The closure of the bridge was vehemently opposed by the then councillor Geoff Braddon and subsequently the bridge’s future has been uncertain. 

With three new councillors now able to take a fresh look at the crossing, options and ideas are being developed to look at how best to reopen what could be a major impetus in the development of tourism, and other industries, in the shire.

Councillor Scott Denton said that the results for Carcoar in particular could be outstanding if a bridge were to be developed.

“We need to open it up to all traffic, give all vehicles full access and expand the tourism route because Carcoar has been struggling for some time now and council must do everything that it can do to remove one of the barriers that will help Carcoar really meet its full potential as a tourism site,” he said.

The notion of building a wet weather causeway across the creek instead of a bridge, has been knocked back by Cr Denton.

“That would only allow access for four wheel drives and emergency services vehicles,” he said.  “It’s a cheap option, I don’t think it’s safe and we need to do it right so that the road is open to all traffic, and the only way we can do that is to build a proper bridge.”

Cr David Somervaille said that replacing the current bridge with something similar would be hard to justify.

“We’ve just spent $2.5 million on replacing six bridges, the longest of which was 20 metres,” he said.

“If replaced with a bridge on a like by like basis, this bridge alone would be 35 metres long, so it would be very hard to justify spending maybe $1.5 million on one bridge.”

For Cr Somervaille he sees the road not as a major thoroughfare for vehicles of all sizes, but as a tourist link between the shires two most important villages, and for cars of all sizes.

“I’d like to be able to see visitors taking a quiet drive to Carcoar, at a leisurely pace, so what I would like to see is a crossing that suits tourist vehicles, but not one that allows heavy vehicles,” he said.

“I think that a wet crossing is only a short term solution because there will always be a lot of water going across it, and in fact it’s probably a dangerous place to have a wet crossing.”

Councillor Bruce Reynolds agrees that the amount of water and the huge catchment of Cowriga creek would see a wet crossing as dangerous and mostly unusable.

“I don’t see the wet crossing as a solution for the majority of people and it will only be suitable for four wheel drive and emergency services like the RFS,” he said. 

“All the wet crossing is are rocks, placed carefully in the stream so they don’t wash away, without any piping because of fisheries requirements and that’s all it is.”

Deputy mayor David Kingham believes that council should engage contractors to submit ideas and costings to have a single lane bridge, similar to the one on Felltimber Rd, constructed, and also believes that traffic from local farms won’t be an issue.

“The majority of tourist come on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, whilst CTLX doesn't trade on those days so there won’t be any conflict,” he said.

“This may take years to happen as we have to finish the southern access road near Errowanbang first, but it will happen.”

Director of Infrastructure Services at Blayney council, Grant Baker, said that construction of the wet crossing is on hold until further information is gathered..

“Council has a budget allocated to it to undertake the construction of a wet crossing and is working through the approvals required for it to undertake those works,” he said.

“Councillors at the moment are seeking further information as to alternative solutions.”

In the meantime, Mr Baker is urging motorists not to use the road.

“There is a makeshift and illegal wet crossing in place and there have been regular occasions where the blockades that are in place have been relocated or disposed of,” he said.