Multi-million rehabilitation of Carthage Street

One of Tamworth’s busiest local roads, Carthage Street, will undergo major pavement renewal from March next year with Tamworth Regional Council expected to invest more than $2 million in the project.

Carthage Street has been impacted by a series of watermain renewal projects in recent years which has impacted the quality of the pavement in addition to the expected wear and tear.

Council’s Manager Project Planning and Delivery, Mark Gardiner, said the street has been among the top priorities for pavement renewal for some time.

“Carthage Street has been identified to require pavement rehabilitation by Council’s Pavement Management System. Having progressed the survey, design and other planning works we are now starting to plan for construction work to commence in early 2025. This major project will see works along the approximate 2.5-kilometre length of Carthage Street from Kitchener Street to Bligh Street”.

Due to the scale of the project, the work is planned to be carried out across multiple stages. Stage one will see pavement renewal between Brisbane and Kitchener Streets, estimated to commence from March 2025 and continue into late next year.

As part of this stage, design plans were taken to the Local Traffic Committee Meeting in November, with it supporting a number of proposed signage and line marking changes that will go to next Tuesday’s Ordinary Council Meeting. Councillors will be asked to consider whether to give their endorsement.

The proposed changes outlined in the report include line marking, implementation of a new right turn lane at the White and Carthage Street intersection, parking configuration changes between Fitzroy and White Streets on the southern side (to meet current design standards), repositioning of disabled parking bays in front of North West Eyes as well as consideration for new pedestrian safety improvements such as new median traffic islands, kerb blisters and kerb ramps.

Council has communicated with residents and affected business owners along the length of Carthage Street to let them know of the works.

Mr Gardiner, said Carthage Street receives a high volume of traffic of approximately 3,000 vehicle movements each day.

“With the use it receives and the projection of growth in Tamworth, this is a much-needed investment to ensure the road is fit for our current and future community,” he said. “Pavement renewal is the main focus for this project, however with community safety also a key consideration, there will also be pedestrian and road user safety elements included in the project.”

Future stages of the works will span from Brisbane Street to Bligh Street with dates to be confirmed based on the progress of stage one. Stages will be constructed in shorter sections, to minimise disruption to traffic and residents.

The works will be funded through a combination of Council’s Water Reserve and Asset Renewal Reserve budgets.