More than 12 months since the project began, the Mitchell Highway has been fully upgraded between Nyngan and Bourke so that drivers can enjoy safer roads. 

The $12 million safety upgrade began in April 2021, where several sections of the highway (almost 47 kilometres) was widened with one metre-wide shoulders on either sides to reduce an existing crash risk. 

Bogan Shire Council Mayor Glen Neill said that prior to the upgrade, the narrow road and multiple edge breaks left little room for correction if vehicles left the road. 

“It was starting to get fairly bumpy too. Then the shoulders got done and that increases the width... I think basically the intention is to look at bringing in triples from Bourke further down the line,” Cr Neill said. 

Other work included selective reshaping of the pavement on the existing alignment, as well as drainage improvements. 

NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said that the upgrade is part of a bigger goal to improve safety on regional roads. 

“The Mitchell Highway is a popular route for travellers and for freight in regional NSW, and this particular stretch is an important link into Regional Queensland,” Mr Farraway said.

Tip of the iceberg

For the Bogan Shire, much like across the Western Plains, while safety on the Mitchell Highway may have risen, local roads are struggling from compounding years of flood damage and use with little time in between. 

Cr Neill said that repairing the shire roads has been an uphill battle. 

“It’s been a full time battle these last few months. Trying to keep grader crews at work has nearly been an impossibility some weeks,” he said. 

Member for Barwon Roy Butler said that there’s no way councils can do it alone. 

“They don’t have the resources or the capabilities to deal with the amount of damage that’s occurring on roads…there’s no council that has the equipment or the bodies to get the work done,” Mr Butler said. 

“I suspect that there will be movement in the private sector …in the next couple of years from those contractors who buy more equipment and put more people on and get out there to fix roads,” Mr Butler said. 

Mr Butler says under current council finances, road repair will inevitably need state and federal funding and locals should expect that repairs won’t come in a hurry.