West Bathurst residents Kent and Dianne McNab have done a remarkable job for their community in getting the project to this important stage when so many before them have failed.

The official start of work on Monday marked the end of a 20-year campaign that has seen no less than four independent engineering reports all recommend a roundabout as the best possible solution to traffic confusion in the area.

And, coincidentally, it also marked exactly three years since the crash outside the Assumption School that started Mr and Mrs McNab on their mission.

That single crash - unremarkable in itself - convinced the McNabs that if nothing was done to fix the mess that has been the intersection of Mitre, Suttor and Lambert streets then it would only be a matter of time before someone was badly injured or killed there.

And with a school sitting right at the intersection, they could not tolerate the thought that it might be a child that was the victim.

So they started collecting signatures calling for action and became regulars - very regular - at Bathurst Regional Council meetings.

While other members of the public attended maybe one or two council meetings to speak from the public gallery about an issue that concerned them, the McNabs became a constant presence.

For three years they attended every monthly council meeting, often both speaking for their allotted five minutes to ensure the West Bathurst roundabout remained top-of-mind for councillors and senior council staff.

Their presence wasn't always welcomed by councillors and it's no secret that some within the chamber believed they went too far with their constant lobbying for support, continuing even after council finally agreed for the roundabout to go ahead.

But it was that persistence - along with a willingness to keep giving up their own time, even if it put them offside with some in town - that made this roundabout a reality.

And it was that persistence that set the McNabs' campaign apart from so many other stalled attempts over the past 20 years to see some action at the intersection.

Thank you to two unlikely heroes.