Business owners are fed up with truck crashes at the Armidale viaduct, petition to remove it

Allingham Removals director Greg Cameron has started a petition to see the viaduct bite the dust.

“The petition is to either raise or remove the bridge – it needs to go,” Mr Cameron said.

“I don’t know why it’s still there, some people say it’s because if war happens they need a backup plan – there’s no reason why the bridge should be there.”

John Holland is responsible for the bridge and the road belongs to Armidale Regional Council.

On Thursday, a prime mover reportedly drove under the viaduct at around 10:30am, bending the truck stacks in the process.

McClennan Street had to be closed on both sides until the truck could be removed, Lowes BP staff member Roger Hay said.

“We don’t even bother to contact police anymore, it happens almost every other week,” he said. 

Mr Cameron said the viaduct poses not only a risk but an inconvenience, his drivers have to travel an extra two kilometres to fill up at Lowes BP for five cents off, but that saving is lost in the longer drive.

“They need to do something, in 1979 a double-decker bus from Edwards went under and lost its top deck, if someone was in there they would be dead,” he said.

“Ducketts had a steamroller, it went under and broke all the chains – the roller fell off, can you imagine if someone was behind that?

“There’s a lot of people trying to get the rail trail or the rail going, the rail is happening out west it won’t happen here.”

New England Police District records confirm trucks getting stuck under the viaduct as far back as 2003.

Armidale Regional Council councillor Jon Galletly is standing behind the cause, the petition will need 10,000 signatures before it’s delivered to Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall.

“I’ve been trying for the last six months to get us to start backing it to get it out of there,” Cr Galletly said.

“I believe it got put on the back burner a bit because of the rail trail debate, my belief is it was put in the too hard basket because of the Northern Rail Line.

“Now it’s rearing its head again.”

Mr Galletly said he doesn’t believe lowering the road is a cost effective option.

The petition is available at Allingham’s Removals.