Sportsmans Creek, Lawrence

The new Sportsmans Creek Bridge opened to traffic on Monday, 26 February 2018 by local member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis. On the day, local public school captains Noah Anderson and Bethany Chambers assisted in planting a tree and cutting the ribbon.

The existing (timber) Sportsmans Creek Bridge is located at the southern approach to Lawrence on Bridge Street, which connects to Grafton-Lawrence Road. Due to its geometry and design limitations, the existing timber bridge is unable to be safely or cost-effectively serviced and upgraded to cater for future requirements of surrounding agricultural industries, local traffic and pedestrian access.

After considering the public submissions received during the July/August 2016 display period, Roads and Maritime has determined the review of environmental factors (REF) and announced its decision to remove the existing bridge. The removal work will be carried out with strict adherence to environmental controls.

A submissions report (PDF, 1.03Mb) is available showing responses to all questions and comments raised. The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) has reviewed both the submissions report and the REF for the removal of the existing bridge and agree that the environmental mitigation measures proposed are appropriate, provided certain conditions are met. Those conditions are explained in the concurrence letter (PDF, 930Kb).

The new Sportsmans Creek Bridge is part of the Bridges for the Bush initiative - a NSW Government commitment to improving road freight productivity by replacing or upgrading bridges throughout regional New South Wales