Second Jewry Street bridge open, but baffles some drivers

However, the new bridge confused some people, with drivers spotted driving down the wrong side of the road over the weekend.

Tamworth Regional Council's regional services director Peter Resch said the council "had a look at that this morning".

"We've got more staff here now to manage the traffic," Mr Resch said.

"We had an incident over the weekend where the small temporary roundabout was hit overnight and it was moved two or three metres away from where it should have been.

"That caused a little bit of an issue, but we've rectified that."

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Tamworth Regional Council's traffic modelling shows the Jewry Street bridge has the highest congestion in the city, with up to 20,000 vehicle movements a day.

The traffic pressure point will be eased further by the installation of traffic lights on the northern side, which has been funded by the state government.

"We're in the home straight now," Mr Resch said.

"We were planning to finish in August, but the guys tell me that depending on the weather, they're hopeful of finishing by the end of July.

"We're well under time frame and well under budget at this stage.

"That's weather-related. There's a lot of people concerned about the drought, but the road construction guys are happy as Larry."

New England MP Barnaby Joyce said the bridge duplication had been a long time coming - he first promised $3.5-million for the project during the 2016 election.

"You've got to have a long run up to any project that you're fighting for," he said.

"The time between fighting for it and delivering it, no matter what government is in, always requires a lot of work."

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Mr Joyce said the duplication worked in to "a plan for the ultimate bypass of Tamworth on all sides".

"We've already started on the roundabout on the Oxley Highway, which is part of the ring road that will go around Tamworth, adding to connections such as Appleby Lane," Mr Joyce said.

"In the future, we'll go for the major bypass, which goes from Nemingha to the south of Tamworth.

"This is all working to a plan because, as Tamworth gets bigger, we have to make sure our infrastructure keeps pace with the city."

Once the project is completed, Mr Joyce said heavy vehicles would have less of an impact on other road users as they headed to the industrial hub of Taminda.

"We're making sure it's easier for heavy vehicles to get around Tamworth," he said.