Don't be alarmed if you see trees disappearing in and around the Newcastle CBD, it's all in preparation for the Newcastle 500 in November.
Civil works are getting underway and there are around 170 trees set to be cut down, but they'll be replaced with 230 new trees which will mostly be of a mature age.
Among the civil works taking place is 170 new carparks around the foreshore, improved access to cycleways, widening of footpaths and in general greater access to the area not only for the race but for years to come.
"Normally the way works go they sort of roll out over a number of years so that's obviously a benefit to the community and the region not just in terms of the time spent doing it but also in the savings of the cost of doing the whole project as well," said Event Manager Kurt Sakzewski.
Instead of being years of work and disruption, the $18 million investment will be completed in just months.
"The net result will be that currently, you've got about 500m squared of shade in that area and once this program is fully rolled out that will increase to about 9,800m squared of shade. So for the people that go down and use the parklands on a regular basis obviously, that's going to be of great benefit to them," said Kurt Sakzewski.
 |
| Image http://www.supercars.com/newcastle/circuit/ |
