Giinagay Way

Giinagay Way is a road in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales linking the towns of Warrell Creek, Macksville, Nambucca Heads and Urunga to Pacific Highway. It runs along a former section of the highway between Eungai Creek and Raleigh that was bypassed by a new parallel alignment between 2016 and 2018.

''Giinagay'' means "Hello" or "Welcome" in the local Gumbaynggirr language.

Route description

Giinagay Way is a road stretching from Eungai Creek to Raleigh and passes through the towns of Warrell Creek, Macksville, Nambucca Heads and Urunga. The road passes through two local government areas, Bellingen Shire and Nambucca Valley Council.

History

Many sections of the Pacific Highway had been bypassed since 1996 as part of the Pacific Highway Upgrade. The section between Nambucca Heads to Urunga was due to be bypassed by a new alignment in 2016. Bellingen Shire Council chose "Giinagay Way" as the proposed name of the old alignment, meaning "Hello" or "Welcome" greeting in the local Gumbaynggirr language. Nambucca Valley Council initially chose the name "Nambucca Valley Way", named after the council itself, but this was opposed by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales (GNB) on the basis that the road also passed through Bellingen Shire. Nambucca Valley Council then chose "Rivers Way", but this was also opposed by the GNB as there was already a River Street in Nambucca Valley and a River Street and River Place in Bellingen Shire. Eventually, Nambucca Valley Council voted for the Giinagay Way name in February 2015. The new alignment opened on 22 July 2016.

In February 2017, the speed limits of Giinagay Way were reduced following a speed zone review. Changes include:
*100 km/h speed limit from north of Nambucca Heads interchange to south of Valla Beach Rd at Valla Beach
*90km/h speed limit from south of Valla Beach Rd to south of Ballards Road, north of Valla Beach
*80km/h speed limit from south of Ballards Rd to the existing 50km/h speed limit within Urunga
*The speed limit between Urunga to Raleigh were unchanged

The section of Giinagay Way within Nambucca Valley Council was gazetted on 24 February 2017 and the section within Bellingen Shire was gazetted on 14 July 2017. The name was gazetted even before the section of Pacific Highway between Warrell Creek and Nambucca Heads had been realigned, which would bypass Warrell Creek and Macksville.

In late 2017, some Warrell Creek residents on the highway expressed their "fear" that "their sense of community will be lost" and were "concerned about confusion for emergency services" if the Giinagay Way name was used on the old alignment. They proposed alternative names such as "Warrell Creek Way" or "Warrell Way" with a possibility of dual naming system. However, there was already an Upper Warrell Creek Road in the area which may cause confusion. Additionally, the Giinagay Way name had already been gazetted earlier in February 2017. The old alignment was bypassed between December 2017 and June 2018.

Major junction list

See also

* Big River Way - bypassed section of Pacific Highway and the site of the Grafton bus crash
* Macleay Valley Way - bypassed section of Pacific Highway and the site of the Kempsey bus crash

References

{{Road infrastructure in regional New South Wales

Roads in New South Wales