IN early 2008, after years of work, one of the major transport projects in the region was finally completed when the last 27 kilometres of the Abercrombie Road was sealed.
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This completed the connection from Oberon to Goulburn. It also became known as the Tablelands Way - a designed route from Goulburn through Oberon and north towards the Hunter Valley that acts as a major tourist drawcard.
The road between Oberon and Goulburn was improved once again in 2019 when a two-lane concrete culvert bridge was built over the Abercrombie River. It replaced the low-level single lane timber bridge which was constructed in the 1950s.
This is an extract from a report in the Oberon Review in March 2008 ...
WELL, John McKinnon, you've got your wish.
Mr McKinnon gave then NSW Minister for Roads and Minister for Transport Carl Scully a message back in mid-2002 regarding the Abercrombie Road, and six years later, it appears that what started as a campaign slogan painted on the side of a truck has now become one of the biggest tourism assets that Oberon has seen.
Still actively involved in the Sealing of Abercrombie Road Committee in his capacity as president, Mr McKinnon was understandably happy about the recent completion of the project.
"I'm very satisfied. As a matter of fact, I was driving from Goulburn to Oberon just the other week as the last section was commencing, and I was very happy," he said.
"This is obviously something that I have long been pretty passionate about, and I could always see the potential for the area in terms of tourism."
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Mr McKinnon paid tribute to Member for Bathurst Gerard Martin, who he said attended the first meeting held to try to get the ball rolling on the project and confronted the issue head-on.
On his antics with the roadside billboard he established on the side of the truck six years ago, Mr McKinnon looked back and admitted that the campaign had a greater effect than he'd envisaged.
"We were very aware of using the press, who really have a lot of power nowadays," he said.
"At the time, the Oberon Review placed visual coverage of the roadside campaign on the front page.
"That power is especially effective around election time."
Mr McKinnon paid particular tribute to Roger Arrow, who played a major part in the clerical side of the campaign for the road upgrade.
