Northern Rivers Rail Trail Stage 3 Opens in Lismore

The excitement continues in the Northern Rivers region of NSW with the official opening of Stage 3 of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail (NRRT), connecting Lismore to Bentley (approximately 17 km), which joins the existing 13 km Casino to Bentley section opened earlier this year. The two stages now connect Lismore to Casino, providing a beautiful 30 km traffic-free journey between these two important regional centres.

Sam Reich, Kathy Furney and John O’Brien attended the opening day on 14 December to represent Rail Trails Australia (RTA). After the ceremony, the team handed out fliers, maps and information from the NRRT Supporters Group’s stall and, of course, cycled the magnificent new section.

The official part of the day kicked off at 9am with the general manager of Lismore City Council, Mr Jon Gibbons, hosting the event. The Federal Member for Lismore, Kevin Hogan, who has been a long time supporter of the rail trail was the first to speak, and provided context to the long term desire to see the entire 132 km trail completed from Casino to Murwillumbah. Stage 3 works were largely funded by the federal government.

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg then thanked the planning and construction teams who did such a magnificent job, both on the trail and with the Lismore Station buildings, and said that further funding announcements for the extension of the trail eastwards from Lismore were imminent. Lastly Cameron Arnold OAM, who is vice-president of the NRRT supporters’ group and chair of the regional tourism authority, Destination North Coast, provided convincing evidence of the tourism potential of the completed sections of the trail, along with confirming the vision for the entire trail as a whole.

Those 3 people then cut the ribbon to allow the large crowd in attendance to commence using the new trail. The new section surface is hard-packed blue metal road base, which is suitable for any type of bike, including road bikes. Many trail users on the day were riding e-bikes, and horse riding is also accommodated.

Most of the bridges on this section of trail have been bypassed, with wide concrete causeways and culverts constructed adjacent to the bridges. Particularly impressive is the Oakey Creek bridge, where a new low-level bypass has been constructed under the large railway bridge, allowing views of the heritage structure from underneath and from both sides. The other notable element is the decking and railing of the substantial Back Creek Bridge No. 1 at Bentley, which is a highlight of this section.  It was a very hot and humid day for the opening, but that didn’t stop around 300 people from attending.

In his speech, Mayor Krieg announced that the Council has finalised plans for the building of a new cycling/walking bridge across the Wilsons River in town, to connect an existing river walk to the NRRT. This work, together with hoped-for funding to extend the trail eastwards into Byron Shire, will ensure an ongoing string of developments to celebrate in this still flood-affected region.