Stay In Town Or Face Big Detour

Newcastle Herald

Wednesday August 31, 2005

By BROOKE NEWSTEAD

NIGHT workers in the Swansea area were shaking their heads last night as they tried to figure out how they would get to and from work next week.

The Roads and Traffic Authority will close both Swansea bridges at night between 8pm and 4am for a week from tomorrow to make repairs to the bridge.

But many of the workers The Herald spoke to last night said they did not live in the Swansea area and had to travel to work from suburbs on the northern side of the bridge.

For most of them their shifts finished well after 8pm, meaning that they may be forced to make Swansea their temporary home next week.

This may be the case for Swansea Hotel bartender Leon Cook, who said he would consider sleeping in the hotel's accommodation.

The Tingira Heights resident works between three and five nights a week, closing the hotel at midnight.

"I'll have to drive around the lake or stay upstairs," Mr Cook said.

He said the trip around the lake (about 85 kilometres) back to Tingira Heights would take at least an hour.

Travelling along the Pacific Highway over the bridge usually takes him about 20 minutes.

The news is even worse for the young workers at Swansea McDonalds who work the late shift.

One of the workers, who wished to remain anonymous, said last night about 20 of the staff lived at various places on the northern side of the bridge.

She said some had access to their own transport, but others relied on lifts and public transport, making it almost impossible to co-ordinate their shifts next week and turning down shifts was a possibility.

Swansea RSL staff Adele Solomon, of Teralba, and Kylie Burge, of Floraville, said they would not be giving up shifts.

The pair have swapped shifts and agreed to take reduced meal breaks to allow them to get out of Swansea by 8pm.

Both women said they were scared of the idea of driving right around the lake at night, because the roads were unknown to them and they would be travelling alone.

"If I got a flat tyre I'd be buggered," Miss Burge said.

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© 2005 Newcastle Herald

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