Following an accident involving two trucks near Harden last week Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke MP, is once again demanding urgent action from the NSW Government to upgrade or replace the dangerous William Bradford Bridge.
According to local police at about 5:30pm on Thursday 22 May, emergency services responded to a collision between a fuel tanker and a semi-trailer, which forced the closure of Burley Griffin Way between Wallendbeen and Murrumburrah for several hours.
This brought the region’s traffic to a standstill as there was nowhere for them to safely turn around as well as delaying imperative deliveries due to detours that had to be put in place, placing lives at serious risk as NSW Fire and Rescue began the mammoth task of cleaning up the scene.
“This could have been catastrophic,” Ms Cooke said.
“We are lucky we’re not mourning a tragedy today. But how many more close calls, crashes, and injuries do we need before this government acts?”
The William Bradford Bridge is no stranger to danger.
The latest incident follows several others over the past several years including a serious bus crash that left 28 people injured, including a 65 year old woman in a critical condition and an eight year old boy with serious fractures in September 2019 as well as a multi vehicle incident that involved three vehicles, one of which was towing a caravan in September of 2024.
According to Ms Cooke despite these repeated, serious incidents, the NSW Government has failed to commit to essential safety upgrades, instead burying the bridge in a pool of funding competition with other regional projects.
“The Government has had the structural assessments. They’ve had the accident reports. They’ve had the warnings. Yet still, they fail to act,” she said.
“This is a matter of life and death.
"How many incidents and injuries will it take before they finally prioritise the safety of our community?”
The bridge, which was built in the early 1930s, is a critical link on Burley Griffin Way with hundreds of heavy vehicles and commuter movements every single day.
Ms Cooke said the bridge is narrow, outdated, and unable to safely accommodate modern traffic volumes, and has become a repeat crash site and a deadly bottleneck in the heart of regional NSW.
According to Ms Cooke the Government’s inaction is a betrayal of rural road users.
“Last week we recognised National Road Safety Week, yet here we are again, watching another major crash unfold on a stretch of road that’s long been identified as unsafe," Ms Cooke said.
"The NSW Government cannot continue to ignore their responsibility.
“They owe it to every driver, every family, and every first responder to stop delaying and start delivering.
"This bridge needs to be widened or replaced, and it needs to happen now.”
Ms Cooke is demanding immediate action and will raise the issue directly with the Minister this week when Parliament resumes.
Ms Cooke's comments have been welcomed by Harden-Murrumburrah residents and locals who frequently travel the road who have been sharing their concerns over the bridge for some time.