Kiama Municipal Council had been approached with various names for the bridge, which is now under construction, but the council’s streets and reserves naming committee agreed on Omega Bridge, which had been suggested by the Gerringong and District Historical Society.

Society spokeswoman Margaret Sharpe said the bridge went over the site where the old Omega railway station once stood.

The Omega station was built when the railway line opened in 1893 and named after the Omega estate on Mount Pleasant.

Echoing the naming debate surrounding the new railway station at Dunmore, initial plans to name the Omega station Rose Valley station were rejected by community members as Rose Valley was considered to be three kilometres inland and too far from the station.

At the time, the main road ran along Fern Street through Gerringong’s main street, with the section of the Princes Highway from the Omega crossing to Belinda Street, bypassing the town centre, completed in 1939.

The railway crossing and highway intersection have been the site of many fatalities over the years.

The council has been asked to install a memorial on or near the bridge acknowledging those who have lost their lives at the site.

The bridge, part of the $329 million highway upgrade, is being pushed across the railway line using a specialised technique known as “incremental launching”.

The completed bridge will have 16 segments, each about 22 metres long and 460 tonnes.

Bridge works will be finished by the end of the year, with cars on it early next year.