Opening of Abraham Street bridge marks end of Karloo Wandina Project

Member for Agriculture the Hon. Paul Brown MLC, City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn and Federal Member for Durack Melissa Price MP cut the ribbon - officially opening the Abraham Street bridge.

The official opening of the Abraham Street bridge and roundabout at the intersection of Abraham Street and Utakarra Road marks the completion of the Karloo Wandina project which began with the construction of Verita Road in July 2013.

The staged development of the Karloo Wandina Project over the last three years has been one of the City’s largest Capital Works projects to date totalling more than $25 million.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said many local contractors had directly benefitted from the project.

“The 65m long bridge over the Southern Transport Corridor that connects Verita Road with Abraham Street has created an important link between the northern and southern suburbs,” he said.

“The project has injected more than $15 million into the local economy by employing more than 20 local contractors who provided products or services during the construction of the project.”

The project has also resulted in improved community safety and convenience.

“Before the bridge opened there were more than 1600 traffic movements a day on Verita Road and we expect this number will increase as motorists take advantage of the new linkage the bridge provides,” Mayor Van Styn said.

“To ensure the expected increase in traffic keeps flowing whilst maintaining community safety the T-intersection at Abraham Street and Utakarra Road was changed to a roundabout.

“This project has been three years in the making and is already changing the way people move throughout our City.”

Construction of the $9.8 million Abraham Street bridge and roundabout was jointly funded with Royalties for Regions contributing $5,970,000, the Australian Government Building Better Regional Cities Program $1,030,000 and the City $2,820,000.