Prime Mover Magazine

Trucks likely winner from proposed Werris Creek Intermodal Road Access Project

A proposed Intermodal Road Access Project at Werris Creek providing improved access to Crawfords Freightlines intermodal rail facility near Tamworth would provide efficiency and safety for heavy vehicles according to the Liverpool Plains Shire Council (LPSC).

The project would involve major upgrades to South Street, which connects with the New England Highway, a key transit route for trucks working between the inland and eastern seaboard freight corridors.

In partnership with Regional Development Australia Northern Inland (RDANI), the LPSC is calling on the NSW Government to consider allocating close to $10 million in funding to the project.

It would also provide a much needed boost for a local economy recently crippled by drought by creating new jobs and reducing average travel times for trucks having to complete a round-trip.

RDAMI Senior Research Economist David Thompson said the 4,200 truck movements per year freighting refrigerated meat from Tamworth would be reduced by 77 minutes.

"Research into existing access to the intermodal identified room for travel time and safety improvements and the proposed project would deliver on risk reductions," he said.

By optimising road infrastructure at the Crawfords Freightlines intermodal rail facility other industries in the area would also enjoy economic benefits from the increasing efficiencies afforded commercial vehicles according to the council which was already developing a 100-acre industrial precinct adjacent to the Crawfords Freightlines intermodal rail facility.

It was anticipated that the project could facilitate a heavy vehicle bypass of Werris Creek in the future subject to support from the State Government and providing that the Intermodal Road Access Project was able to meet a January 2021 start date.

Crawfords Freightlines intermodal rail facility cost approximately $8 million.