Major upgrade of Arakwal Court at Byron Bay High School is underway

Published on 10 December 2019

Two months of improvement works at Arakwal Court at Byron Bay, including road renewal, road widening and the upgrade of pedestrian, cycling and parking infrastructure, is underway.

“This is a substantial and exciting $725,000 project that includes new road pavements, drainage infrastructure, kerbing, crossings, footpaths, shared paths, pedestrian and cyclist fencing and formalised parking, as well as drop-off and pick-up areas,” Director Infrastructure Services Phil Holloway said.

The works are co-funded by Byron Shire Council, the Department of Education on behalf of Byron Bay High School, and St Finbarr’s Primary School.

“The majority of the work will take place out of school hours and during the school break between term four and the start of term one next year to minimise the impacts on safety, traffic and the amenity of the area, with the goal of having everything complete before school starts on 28 January 2020.

“The end result will be improved safety for students, staff, pedestrians, cyclists and the whole community who use Arakwal Court and the adjacent facilities on a regular basis and we are really looking forward to delivering these great outcomes for the local community,” he said.

“We’ve been working closely with Byron Bay High School, St Finbarr’s Primary School and the surrounding community for some time now and believe this project will go a long way in addressing safety issues relating to traffic management, parking, cycle ways, student drop–off zones and pedestrian interactions in Arakwal Court,” Mr Holloway said.

“I am so excited that these improvements are starting,” Ben Franklin, NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Renewable Energy and Northern NSW, said.

“When the school community approached me to help them last year, I brought the Education Minister to Byron to see the issue for himself and convinced him that the Government should co-fund this upgrade with Byron Council.

“The community expects all levels of government to put politics aside and work together for the good of the community, and that’s exactly what we have done here,” Mr Franklin said.

GRC Civil has been engaged to undertake the works and night works started on 9 December 2019 and will go until the end of term four on Friday 20 December 2019.

Arakwal Court will then be closed for construction from Saturday 21 December 2019 until Monday 27 January 2020.

People driving, walking or cycling in the area should take care, follow the signage and be aware of construction traffic and changing conditions.

For more media information contact Annie Lewis, Media and Communications Coordinator, on 6626 7320.