Bypass

I am all for the early construction of the Muswellbrook bypass. Even though it isn't Councils construction task, they do have the task of pressuring the relevant authorities as much as they can for an early completion. It will take all the truck and heavy vehicle traffic out of Muswellbrook's main streets which will be a major advantage in terms of noise reduction and general safety along the main streets. With the highway going along Muswellbrook's main streets it makes it hard for people to hear each other talk, and hard to cross from one side of the street to the other, as trucks rumble by; The main street is suffering from lack of pedestrian traffic, with three more shops to close soon.

Our Council has said they cant do any improvements to Bridge street until after the bypass is built. However, there is much they can do now. The footpaths can be widened, not shrunk when the bypass comes. So that means that we can improve the areas from the shop fronts to the gutters now. More seating for a start. Have you noticed how Tamworth has plenty of seating, arranged in twos at an angle to each other? We could do something similar now..

I grew up in Albury on the Victoria/NSW border and after leaving High School did my Diploma of Youth work course in Melbourne for three years. Back them there was no Freeway linking Albury and Melbourne all the way like it does now. When it was being built the small towns that the old Hume Highway passed through were predicting doom and gloom. The towns did initially suffer for the next few years with some service stations closing down. But then the main streets of these bypassed towns improved, as the local townspeople shopped in town more. They discovered that it was safer and more pleasant, rather than driving to a nearby town off the Highway to do their shopping. The other interesting thing they found was that people did not like driving non-stop for three hours on the new Hume Freeway between Albury and Melbourne. People turned off the Freeway into towns for a meal or snack break, to buy a cup of coffee, to let the kids use a local playground, to see the tourist sites. So new businesses opened up in these bypassed towns- coffee shops, craft shops etc. So yes, lets bring on the Muswellbrook Bypass as soon as possible, but lets make sure that the entrances into Muswellbrook off the Bypass are easy to navigate so that travellers can come into Muswellbrook if they desire to. And lets promote tourism in Muswellbrook more.