WORK on a $150,000 upgrade of the Kelso High School bus interchange is due to get under way during the summer school holidays.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bathurst Regional Council has called for tenders to carry out the work and is expected to award the winning contract during a closed meeting on Wednesday night.
A confidential report to councillors by acting engineering services director Darren Sturgiss outlines the tenders received by council to carry out the demolition of the existing footpath, construction of a new footpath and installation of new pedestrian fencing on Boyd Street.
Kelso High first approached council in 2011 asking it to address safety concerns at the interchange.
The school’s primary concern was the narrow concrete footpath and lack of a handrail along the kerb to separate students from parked and moving buses.
An investigation by council’s road safety officer and Roads and Maritime Services’ schools safety officer agreed there was a need to upgrade the interchange.
“The design was subsequently completed and approved by Department of Education and RMS,” a report to council stated.
“The upgrade works include the removal of a two metre wide concrete footpath and excavation works, the construction of a retaining wall, approximately 500 square metres of concrete footpath and an RMS approved pedestrian safety fence of 100 lineal metres, with appropriate gaps to allow access to buses by school students.”
RMS is to fund the full cost of the $150,000 upgrade through the Pedestrian Safety Infrastructure Program Around Schools.
The program allows for grants of up to $10,000 per school for pedestrian safety improvements.
“Since the bus interchange is used by a number of Bathurst schools, council applied for the full amount of the construction cost of the upgrade,” the report to councillors stated.
“Letters of support were provided by 11 schools, in addition to the original request from Denison College, along with correspondence from bus companies that frequently use the interchange.”
Work on the upgrade is due to be completed over the holidays to limit disruption for students and staff.
The interchange was designed and built by the Department of Education during the construction of the original Kelso High School in the 1970s.