The increasing congestion along Hereford Street during morning and afternoon peak hours means any plan to improve traffic flow is well worth a look.
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It's one of those issues that keeps coming back before Bathurst Regional Council which has previously considered a number of options.
Among them has been a proposal to widen Hereford Street to take extra traffic but the sticking point with that plan has always been just what to do with the traffic at either end of Hereford Street.
There would need to be a major upgrade of the intersection with Gilmour Street to avoid a tedious bottleneck and also an upgrade of the low level bridge across the Macquarie River on the way into the CBD.
It would be a massively expensive project so it's always landed in the too-hard basket.
An alternative suggestion considered on a number of occasions has been the construction of a new river crossing and Paddy's Hotel owner Liam O'Hara has now added his two cents' worth to the discussion.
In a submission to council regarding its Vision Bathurst 2040 - Bathurst Regional Local Strategic Planning Statement, Mr O'Hara proposes a new road running parallel to Hereford Street that would link Gilmour Street to Rankin Street via a new bridge over the Macquarie River.
He proposes the new road would be an extension of Jacks Close, which currently runs from Gilmour Street past Paddy's Hotel.
It is not a completely altruistic proposal; Mr O'Hara has also requested council rezone some of his land to allow the construction of residential units and also new business opportunities that are not permitted under the current zoning.
But that reality does not mean the suggestion should be discounted altogether.
Bathurst is already one of the fastest rowing cities in regional NSW and that trend is expected to continue over the next two decades or so.
Council's own planning shows that areas around Laffing Waters will take many of the new homes needed to house this growing population and those new residents will only add to the congestion on Gilmour Street.
So any genuine proposal that might ease some of that burden needs to be taken seriously and Mr O'Hara's plan warrants further investigation.
But whether that's in conjunction with a rezoning of some land around Paddy's or as a separate project remains to be seen.
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