Bypass has been open for one year

The Parkes Newell Highway Bypass has been open for a year today. Traffic switched onto the new 10.5-kilometre section on 15 April last year, with the Condobolin Road roundabout - the largest in the Central West - and the new Hartigan Avenue already in use for almost five months at that point. And the northern and southern connections from Peak Hill and Forbes directions were to follow about three to four months later. The colourful centrepiece on the bypass roundabout - the 'halo' - was built between June and August last year, and after three and a half years Victoria Street and its bridge reopened to motorists in July. The $287.2 million project was announced officially complete by the state government on 21 November. The moment marked a step into the future for the town. Of course the decades leading to this project and its four years of construction have been significant too. The Parkes Bypass was one of the largest publicly-funded construction projects in western NSW. It brought a major boost to regional employment, in the form of extra trade to businesses across Parkes and beyond, and supported 350 jobs. This included more than 50 Parkes and Forbes locals who were engaged throughout the project in a wide range of roles from designers and contract administrators to surveillance officers, communication specialists and engineers. "These people brought a great energy to this project and took great pride in playing significant roles in building something wonderful for the future of their local communities," said Holly Davies, who was Transport for NSW acting executive director partnerships and integration west when the bypass was finished. "Their skills remain in the Parkes and Forbes communities, delivering dividends long after the bypass project." Among the local workers were Carmen Tom and James Beuzeville who both grew-up in Parkes and completed their schooling at Parkes High School. Carmen is a Transport for NSW community and customer engagement manager and has been with the department for five years, and James was an engineer on the bypass project. "Working as part of the Parkes Bypass team was a wonderful opportunity for me to play a small role in a project that is so important to the town I grew up in," Carmen said. "In my role on the Parkes Bypass project I worked closely with the project team to keep our stakeholders in the loop and advocate for the community. "It was certainly challenging, but I learned a lot along the way."