Newell Highway flood-proofing underway

West Wyalong floods in 2016. Image courtesy of Transport for NSW.

Transport for New South Wales is continuing work to improve flood immunity on various sections of the Newell Highway between West Wyalong and Forbes, with the $200 million project now in the early design stage.

The Newell Highway is prone to flooding between West Wyalong and Forbes and has a history of road closures during periods of heavy rain and flooding in the Lachlan Catchment.

In September 2016 the West Wyalong to Forbes section of the highway closed for 43 days and in total 20 kilometres of this section was flooded.

Transport for NSW has started investigating potential flood immunity solutions for the Newell Highway between Compton Road, West Wyalong and Hereford Street, Forbes.

The proposal is expected to be delivered in sections improving up to 20 kilometres of the 110 kilometre length between the two towns.

Key features of the proposal could include: increasing the height of the highway to meet the flood immunity objectives, pavement, bridge and drainage improvements to allow water to pass freely under the highway, and ancillary works including safety barriers, signage, line marking, landscaping and environmental protection works as required.

New South Wales Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole said the preliminary environmental investigation was now complete, with focus now shifted to the strategic and concept design stage.

“The NSW Government plans to improve the highway’s flood immunity between Compton Road in West Wyalong and Hereford Street in Forbes by achieving one lane open under traffic control in a flood event similar to the 2016 floods,” Minister Toole said.

“The project will also aim to achieve a minimum flood immunity for a onw-in-20 year flood event, and assess options for flood immunity for up to a 1-in-50 year flood event, to deliver a stronger road for future generations.”

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said the NSW freight task was set to grow by 28 per cent by 2036.

“It’s important we invest in vital road infrastructure projects like this now to ensure we cater for additional movements for years to come,” Ms Cooke said.

“The goal is to provide increased flood immunity along the Newell Highway to prevent any further closures from happening again, but we also want to make sure we don’t worsen future flood impacts for adjacent properties.”

With work to review existing flood studies and preliminary identification of flora and fauna species along the length of the project now completed, the next stage of design will include field and data collection, flood modelling and analysis, road design, estimating, further environmental assessment and extensive consultation with nearby landholders and key stakeholders.

Over the next three months, consultation will continue with local residents, especially during the development of the flood model, to collect flood data.

The strategic and concept design stage also includes option selection, road design estimating, environmental assessment and further consultation.

For more information on the project, visit nswroads.work/ww2f