West Dapto Road upgrade opens by Christmas after microbat delay
Wollongong Council confirmed the road will reopen by Christmas after a colony of threatened Southern Myotis microbats vacated the stormwater culvert.
West Dapto Road has been closed since late July 2025, held up since May by a microbat colony roosting in cracks in a stormwater culvert. In September, the council implemented a plan to gently encourage the bats to relocate, monitoring the site and sealing gaps at night when the animals left to forage.
The strategy worked. On Thursday, work at the culvert was announced to resume, clearing the final obstacle to reopening.
The upgrade project is now 86 per cent complete. Remaining work includes pavement installation and a pedestrian bridge, which arrives later this month.
The road should reopen for traffic by Christmas.
- Late July 2025
- Road closed since
- Late May
- Delay started
- 86 percent
- Project completion
- Christmas 2026
- Target reopening
Why it mattersThe lengthy closure has disrupted local traffic and commuters. Reopening will restore access and ease congestion in the Wollongong region.
AustraliaWest Dapto Road in NSW reopening by Christmas will restore access for Illawarra residents and businesses, ending a prolonged transport disruption caused by the need to protect threatened bats.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 2 h ago
Open this story in InSnip →
