HARTILL-LAW BRIDGE UNDERPASS WALKWAY PLANNED

The Wolli Creek Preservation Society met with engineers from Canterbury Bankstown Council (CBCity) for a site meeting at the Hartill-Law Bridge in Bardwell Park to discuss upcoming rehabilitation of the embankment under the bridge. The eroded embankment is in poor condition and the walking trail there is overgrown with weeds, so we are pleased to see some progress at last.

In 2007, the City of Canterbury, in conjunction with WCPS, received a $10,000 grant from the Cooks River Foreshores Improvement Programme for construction of a board walk under the bridge on the northern side of the creek, which would bypass the only road crossing in the 5 km Wolli Valley walking track. This underpass walkway is the missing link in the Wolli Track section of the Two Valley Trail.

But the planned works weren’t carried out until Canterbury Bankstown Council finally scheduled this work for 2022/23 and planning is now underway.

Council will employ contractors to clear the existing weeds like Crofton, Morning Glory and Lantana choking the embankment. Council engineers will rehabilitate the embankment with shotcrete to stabilize the area and improve drainage on and under the bridge to provide some protection from flooding. Horizontal concrete will also be laid at the bottom of the slope to create the underpass walkway.

WCPS also discussed with the Council Bushcare Officers present at the briefing how the work could be carried out with minimal impact on the nearby bush restoration work, which is carried out by volunteers around and in the wetland to the west of the bridge, off Bray Avenue.

Works are planned to commence in January. If all goes to plan, bushwalkers will have pleasant bush tracks leading to the bridge from both sides and the new underpass as a welcome alternative to crossing busy Hartill-Law Ave.