It’ll be easier for motorists to pass on the Newell Highway after the NSW Government announced 45km of new overtaking lanes on the major state road artery on Wednesday.
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The upgrade will deliver at least 30 additional overtaking lanes over four years, including eight lanes from Parkes to the south of Forbes.
The Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey was in town to make the announcement.
“I just want to say this is really exciting and acknowledge the work of my RMS team in delivering what is going to be a major, major upgrade for the Newell highway,” Minister Pavey said.
“We expect it's going to shave about 25 minutes in travelling time for the entire stretch of the highway in NSW.
“We are going to get those lanes out the door really quickly and we are taking a new approach to the way we do it.
“A massive investment in partnership with BMD employing local people, we’ll be constructing 13 lanes from Parkes to Narrabri, 14 lanes from Parkes to Narrandera, two from Finley to Tocumwal and another one between Narrabri and the Queensland border.”
Minister Pavey said work on the projects, the first one in this patch of the highway, will start in about six weeks.
“We are ready to go, the contract has been let, there has been a very competitive process,” she said.
“We’ve been working on that contract for probably about 12 months - a new approach that is designed to get as much bitumen on the road delivered in the shortest amount of time.”
Each of the new overtaking lanes will be one and a half kilometres long.
“It’s about freight, it’s about our farmers but it’s also about our residents and our communities,” Minister Pavey said.
“It’s about safety, it’s about not being frustrated sitting behind a caravan and knowing that there is going to be an overtaking opportunity shortly.”
More information on the overtaking lanes, including a map, is available at the RMS website under Western NSW Projects – Newell Highway.
The planned overtaking lanes from West Wyalong to Dubbo are:
South of Peak Hill – southbound;
Parkes Radio Telescope – extension of the northbound overtaking lane;
Coobang – extension of the northbound overtaking lane;
Daroobalgie – southbound;
Bundaburrah – northbound and southbound;
Bergen – northbound and southbound;
Marsden – northbound and southbound;
Back Creek – southbound;
Booberoi Hill – northbound.
The website does specify that the locations that are depicted in the dotted lines in the graphic – which comes from the RMS project website – are to be negotiated.
