Wanaaring Road completiona story of vision

The workers who got the job done - Clint Mckellar, Dennis Tiffen, John Sutton, William Norris and Jack Wielinga. Photo: Ian Cole

Story by Tricia Duffield

At 10 past 12 last Friday afternoon Bourke Shire Council completed the final seal on the Bourke to Wanaaring Road – meaning that you can now drive the 200-odd kms between Bourke and Wanaaring and not hit one red corrugation!

The completion of the road is one of the biggest engineering feats undertaken by the Bourke Shire Council.

At least five mayors and five local members have been involved in the project since it was first begun more than thirty years ago.

One who pushed for the road upgrade was former Bourke Mayor Andrew Lewis, who by chance was the first person to drive the newly sealed road into Wanaaring on Friday.

For Andrew, it was the culmination of years of advocacy, carrying on the work of his predecessors – Wally Mitchell and Wayne O’Mally, before passing the baton to Barry Hollman, and current Mayor Lachie Ford.

As luck would have it, Andrew was also the first person to drive on the brand-new section, the final 9.6kms of bitumen from Bourke all the way to the Wanaaring township. […]

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