Australia’s 1,060 km Newell Highway set for A$500m upgrade
The Newell Highway is the longest highway in NSW, stretching over 1060 kilometres from the Victorian border at Tocumwal to the Queensland border at Goondiwindi, and is a National Highway.
The Newell Highway connects the state’s Victorian and Queensland borders and benefits the townships of Berrigan, Jerilderie, Urana, the Riverina, Coolamon, Narrandera, Bland, Weddin, Forbes, Parkes, Dubbo, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Narrabri and Moree Plains. It is the economic backbone for freight and livestock transporters, tourism operators, caravanners and holiday makers, emergency services, government, media and business owners.
The NSW Government has invested $500 million into upgrading the Newell Highway.
Alliance announced with private sector
BMD and AECOM have been selected as Roads and Maritime Services’ strategic partners in the Newell Highway Program Alliance.
The partnership will deliver at least 30 additional overtaking lanes in an estimated four years rather than the likely eight years it would take to fund and deliver this work using traditional methods.
The innovative mode of delivery will result in the construction of a minimum of 45 kilometres of new overtaking lanes to improve safety, reduce travel times, allow more accurate travel planning and improve freight productivity.
The new overtaking lanes are expected to provide around 25 minutes of travel time savings along the length of the Newell Highway from the Victorian border to the Queensland border.
Work on the first pair of overtaking lanes at Dustys Creek, north of Gilgandra, is expected to start in March 2019.
