Cadia project to affect Orange residents

ACCESS to around 50 homes on Sharp Road, Orange, will be limited for the next months with stage two of Cadia Valley Operations’ (CV0) underground powerline project to start next Monday.

The continuing project will for the next month include an area from Huntley Road, near the railway line, to the western end of Sharp Road.

Cadia East Projects general manager Leigh Cox said traffic to and from the hospital would not be impacted during the month-long electrical works.

“Forest Road will remain open at all times,” he said.

Mr Cox said electrical contractors would use a horizontal drill to bore under Forest Road during the works so traffic would not be impacted.

Once the electrical works reach Sharp Road contractors will work in stages of 20 to 30 metres each day to reduce the impact on residents.

“We do really try and work in pretty hard with the residents ... our plan is to minimise the inconvenience as much as possible,” Mr Cox said.

“There might be six households at a time that will have an open trench in front of them.

“The road will be restricted to residents and their visitors and Midwest Traffic Management will redirect through-traffic to appropriate detours and manage access for local residents.”

Two separate tunnels will be dug along Sharp Road during the works to allow for a double-circuit powerline for increased capacity.

Existing CVO overhead powerlines in the region will also be removed as part of the works.

Mr Cox said the work was “weather dependent” and subject to “buried services” they may come across during their works.

Contractors unearthed unexpected services during stage one work on McLachlan Street that did not appear on maps, Mr Cox said.

“There are things that have been in the ground for 100 years or more,” he said.

Hours of construction will generally be between 7am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am and 1pm on Saturdays. There will be no construction on Sundays or public holidays.