The second stage of the massive Ballina bypass project is almost complete and, for the first time ever, Ballina won’t be caught in a perpetual traffic jam come Boxing Day.
The Teven Road to Cumbalum section is reported to be six months ahead of schedule. To celebrate, there will be a family fun day at Teven Road bridges at West Ballina on Sunday 27 November between 9am and 2pm.
An historic monument has been rescued from the path of the highway.
The memorial is built of bricks from a chimney of Fairfield, a homestead built in 1889 on one of the earliest land grants in Alstonville, and was on land acquired during preparation for the highway upgrade.
Following an approach by Alstonville Plateau Historical Society, Ballina Council found a suitable alternative site in a council-owned reserve in Alstonville, near where the original homestead once stood.
The land on which the original home once stood was selected by brothers Thomas and Andrew Freeborn around 1865.
Thomas died unmarried and Andrew gave the land to his son William, who built the house for his new wife, Isabella Cooke.
