Morpeth Bridge is undergoing yet another round of restoration works which has forced its full closure from today until 6pm on Monday - much to the dismay of many local businesses.
The closure is required for the installation of temporary support structures which will allow remediation work to be undertaken.
However the weekend is often the busiest time of the week for trade and with one road into the town closed off, local business owners fear their profit will be at another loss.
Local business owner Andrew Mason says while the community are supportive of the bridge closure so it stays fully functioning into the future, businesses still have grave concerns.
"Typically the businesses reported at the last business closure a significant drop in revenue for that weekend and we have approached RMS [Roads and Maritime Services] to discuss with them how we might solve that problem for the businesses not for this closure but for the following closures which will occur in May and August this year."
Andrew says there wasn't enough communication between the RMS and local businesses regarding the closures, but hopes this will change in the future.
Local businesses have already had one win with the closure scheduled for Mother's Day weekend in May being moved to earlier in the week.
There will be two more bridge closures this year including May, and another in August.
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| Image courtesy of http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au |
