Roadworks begin this month on Grose Vale Road until next year – trees to be felled, new roundabout

Look out for some traffic disruption on Grose Vale Rd from later this month until at least early 2023 as Redbank Communities – the developer of the North Richmond Redbank development – begin road improvement works on Grose Vale Road between the existing Redbank Sales office at Yobarnie Avenue to the current turn off for Grose River Road.

The road – one of the most pocked-marked west of the river – will be rebuilt and resurfaced from the current roundabout at Redbank to just past St John of God.

Improvements include shoulder works, drainage work, resurfacing and a new roundabout at the current intersection of Grose Vale Road and Grose River Road.

That roundabout will allow for eventual access from Redbank estate itself and will also smooth access to what will eventually be the route down to the planned Grose River Bridge, sometimes referred to as ‘the small bridge’.

Site of the planned new roundabout, just after St John of God

Hawkesbury Council has granted approval to remove several trees along the current roadside, so on the left hand side of the road if you’re coming up from North Richmond.

Tree removal begins this month, partly so power and communication cables can be moved back.

Works will continue throughout 2022 and into early 2023.

Redbank Communities says while there will be some disruption to traffic – expect a contra-flow – the “improved works will enhance safety”.

The roundabout will be installed to prepare for the much-anticipated Grose River Bridge Link Road, as it’s being called by the developers, which will go down Grose River Rd, and ultimately across a new bridge over the Grose River and continue to Springwood Rd, allowing connection to Penrith and the Blue Mountains.

The proposed link road and Grose River Bridge will be built to the 1 in 100 year flood level, which will provide some flood resilience to the local traffic network west of the river, though the most recent weight limit for the proposed new bridge was set at a lowly 5 tonnes – it’s possible that could change in the planning process.

There is still no timetable for that bridge to be built, and affected properties along the route have not yet been purchased by the State government.

The timeline for the bridge build also depends on an agreement signed a decade ago – and since modified several times – between Redbank developers and the Council which in part ties the timetable into the number of housing lots sold.

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