It’s the end of the road for Grandchester’s Ipswich Street.
The end of the dirt road anyway.
Ipswich City Council has completed a $1.5 million upgrade of Ipswich Street to a bitumen road between Rosewood-Laidley Road and George Street.
Ipswich Street has very specific storm water drainage and road maintenance issues given it is on a floodplain adjacent Western Creek.
When the creek breaks its banks the road would be inundated and required urgent road maintenance to ensure residents were not confined to their properties.
During the design, consideration was also given to the vertical position of the road to ensure that water did not pond on neighbouring properties during flood events.
The 900 metre stretch of road was upgraded from a five metre wide gravel road to a nine metre wide sealed road (including shoulders) improving road user safety.
The Grandchester Sawmill and the Grandchester Model Live Steam Train Association are both located on this section of Ipswich Street.
The Ipswich Street Road Sealing Project was created as part of the Ipswich City Council sealing of gravel roads program.
This program’s aim is to improve road safety, storm water drainage and resolve maintenance issues on gravel roads in the rural areas of the greater Ipswich area.
Council identified that this road required rehabilitation given its condition and increasing traffic volumes.
Ipswich City Council Infrastructure and Environment general manager Charlie Dill praised council’s teams for delivering the work on time and within budget.
“The overall outcome of the project including design solution and delivery time and cost, exceeded all stakeholders’ requirements,” he said.
“Council crews were able to provide value for money while providing a high quality product for the community.
“Due to the requirement for significant crossroad drainage, several options were investigated and it was proposed that a floodway be installed in lieu of a culvert structure.”
Since the works have been completed, the benefits have already been realised, with recent rain events incurring no urgent maintenance required from council.
All vehicles travelling along Ipswich Street will notice the safer and less dusty trip.
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