Federal Member for Lyne David Gillespie has inspected progress on the site, which is a joint federal and local government initiative.

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He was joined by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council staff, councillors Josh Slade and Adam Roberts and representatives of contractors Eire Constructions.

In 2019, Dr Gillespie secured $5m from the former coalition government towards the upgrade.

“The state of this road was one of the biggest issues that locals gave strong feedback on in my Vision 2030 Plan survey,” Dr Gillespie said in a statement.

Following the completion of planning, Cr Adam Roberts moved a motion that Council allocate a further $5m to the project.

As reported in July by News Of The Area, Stage One of the project involves major road realignments to improve motorists’ safety, as well as the sealing of a further two kilometres (km) of road from the western end (south of Comboyne Road).

Work is expected to be completed early next year.

“There is still thirteen kilometres of road that needs to be upgraded and sealed,” Dr Gillespie said.

“Along the road corridor extending from the Comboyne Plateau to the Lorne Valley, there are nearly 60 businesses with 40 percent [involved] in agriculture alone.

“Some of the freight traffic includes dairy, beef cattle, timber, horticulture, local supplies and fuel, as well as the school bus route and some level of tourist traffic.

“However, some of this is limited because of the current unsealed and dangerous winding sections, which has left some transport operators needing to travel via Wauchope to access the Pacific Highway.”

During the construction period, contraflow traffic will be in place, along with traffic management, to guarantee the safety of both workers and road users.

Work will be active between 7am and 6pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 1pm Saturdays.

Minor delays should be expected.

Dr Gillespie said design and planning approvals had been completed for Stage two of the project with Council waiting for further funding.

This stage will include further improvements and sealing of Lorne Road through to the Koppin Yarratt Road intersection.

“Given the road has been classified by the NSW Government as a regional road… I believe the State should now be making a significant contribution towards the Lorne Road project.”