Milestone reached as Newell Highway lane works power ahead

Construction half-complete for Newell Highway overtaking lanes — Image courtesy of Infrastructure Australia.

The construction of 40 new overtaking lanes along the Newell Highway in New South Wales has hit the halfway mark with two lanes at Firetail now completed, lanes at Back Creek under construction, and safety work at Redbank to be completed shortly.

The Newell Highway is the principal inter-capital freight route between Melbourne and Brisbane and is a critical link for regional producers in central and western New South Wales.

The new overtaking lanes are set to improve safety, boost freight productivity, and reduce travel times by approximately 33 minutes between the Victorian and Queensland borders.

This follows the opening of two Newell Highway overtaking lanes at Firetail, about six kilometres north of Grong Grong.

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole said the Newell Highway Program Alliance was rolling out several projects along the length of the Newell Highway, from north of Moree to Tocumwal, to bolster efficiencies along the freight backbone of NSW.

“These Newell Highway overtaking lanes are game changers for motorists, including one of the longest overtaking lanes in the entire state at Tap Hill opened earlier this year, providing road users more opportunity to safely pass slower and longer vehicles on this key tourism and freight route,” Toole said.

“Projects like these are important in supporting the regional freight task in NSW, which is expected to increase by 12 per cent to 286 million tonnes moving across our road network by 2036.”

State Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said initial work had begun to establish the site at Back Creek.

“In Cootamundra, as well as the recently completed lanes at Firetail there are currently six lanes in construction at Alleena, Landervale and Back Creek,” Cooke said. “That’s about eight kilometres of overtaking lanes, with both north and south bound lanes at each location taking the total to about 16 kilometres of overtaking lanes.”

The first week of work will be carried out between 7am and 6pm from Monday to Thursday. On every other week, work will be carried out between 7am and 6pm from Monday to Friday and between 8am and 6pm on those weekends.

The remainder of the project is expected to take about nine months to complete, weather permitting. Safety work at Redbank, about 26 kilometres south of Coonabarbran, including installing a widened centre line and shoulder widening, is also due for completion in mid-November.

For more information on the Newell Highway upgrades, click here.