Tweed Heads Memorial Gardens are aiming to keep delays to a minimum during the Tweed Shire Council/RTA Kirkwood Road extension.
Part of the extension goes directly passed the memorial gardens.
Location manager for the Gardens Gaylene Adam said they were trying to alert local residents to the fact that the Tweed Shire Council/RTA Kirkwood Road Project would affect access to the memorial park’s grounds – both on a temporary and permanent basis.
The Kirkwood Road Extension, which began last month, is expected to take 15 months to complete. Council has warned that brief delays in accessing Tweed Heads Memorial Gardens may be experienced during the construction period.
“In order to limit any delays faced by families and friends attending funerals at Tweed Heads Memorial Gardens, we’ve been providing Tweed Shire Council with information about when services are scheduled,” said Gaylene Adam, Location Manager, Tweed Heads Memorial Gardens.
“It’s very important to us that families have unimpeded access to the memorial gardens, not just before and after a funeral service, but throughout the day as people come to visit a loved one’s memorial. Some access delays have already been experienced, but we’re working co-operatively with Council to minimise the disruption caused by the roadworks.”
She said once the roadworks were completed in 2013, access to Tweed Heads Memorial Gardens would change.
Only west-bound traffic on Kirkwood Road will be permitted to turn left in order to enter Tweed Heads Memorial Park. Vehicles will not be able to access the memorial gardens via Sunshine Avenue nor turn right from Kirkwood Road into the gardens’ entrance.
“Tweed Heads Memorial Gardens approached Council with a request that a roundabout be built to allow access to the memorial gardens for both east and west-bound traffic, but we were advised that it was not feasible to incorporate this into the plans,” Gaylene said.
“We’ve also asked Council to consider providing a bus route on Kirkwood Avenue to facilitate access to memorials for older Tweed Heads residents, or those without their own method of transport. Council has agreed to consider it in the future once the full east-west link is operational.
“In the meantime, Tweed Heads Memorial Gardens apologises to any families who are delayed by the roadworks when trying to enter our grounds. We’ve done everything within our power to minimise disruptions and we recognise that upgrades to the road system will ultimately be of benefit to the local community.”
