New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy (NSW Transport)
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/current-projects/new-england-highway-corridor-strategy
Prologue
The Scone Bypass has generated more heated often vindictive discussion than almost any other issue in my time. This continues today even as construction begins. It would appear that the overarching policy premise is contained within the New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy purported by both the NSW Government (Transport) and Roads & Maritime Services. A bypass for scone is the policy of both. One of the overriding objectives is to provide a reliable transport corridor which delivers intra-regional, inter-regional and interstate transport linkages. I obtained my hard copy in 2017 which had been on display at the UHSC for the requisite three months. It can be downloaded as below:
Reviewed 16 Jun 2017
The New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy aims to create an efficient road transport corridor that has the capacity for future growth.
Key benefits
- Supports the user needs of regional industries, populations, commuters and tourists
- Aims to improve safety, capacity, reliability and freight access along the highway
- Acknowledges community value and use of areas in and around the corridor
The New England Highway Corridor Strategy is a key priority in the NSW State Infrastructure Strategy 2014.
At 540km long, the highway runs between the western end of the Hunter expressway at Branxton, through the regional centres of Singleton, Muswellbrook, Tamworth and Armidale, and to the Queensland border.
The draft strategy has been developed under the Road Network and Corridor Planning program by Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and Roads and Maritime (RM).
New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy October 2016
Community feedback and local knowledge will be addressed in a community consultation report that will be available when the final strategy is published.
For more information, visit the Roads and Maritime Draft corridors – Northern page.
Project status:
The short-term investment priorities for the New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy are:
Increase road efficiency and capacity
- Construct the realignment at Bolivia Hill.
- Construct the highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
- Develop options to progressively increase capacity between the Golden Highway and Muswellbrook (with priority between the Golden Highway and Singleton).
Improve road integration with the whole transport network.
- Replace the existing rail over road-bridge at Gowrie Gates.
Support regional industries.
- Plan for heavy vehicle enforcement facilities to support the growth in freight.
Put in place a sustainable road maintenance program.
- Begin heavy-duty pavement reconstruction between Aberdeen and Willow Tree.
Create a reliable road transport corridor.
- Improve route reliability by looking at how to address flooding issues near Bendemeer and Whittingham.
- Improve customer journeys through an intelligent transport system strategy.
Look after the liveability of towns for communities along the road corridor.
- Construct the Scone Bypass.
- Investigate options for a bypass of Muswellbrook.
- Continue to preserve the Tenterfield heavy vehicle bypass and the Singleton bypass corridors.
New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy (RMS)
http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/hunter/new-england-highway/corridor-strategy.html
The New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy provides an overview of the NSW Government’s long-term management and vision for the highway to improve safety, traffic efficiency and sustainability.
On this page:
Updates and announcements
Comments closed for the New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy public display on Monday 7 November.
Roads and Maritime thanks the community for taking the time to consider the New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy and providing feedback.
Community and stakeholder feedback is important to us and will be considered in finalising the New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy.
Roads and Maritime Services will prepare a Community Consultation Report to respond to all submissions received during the display of the draft strategy. This report will include a summary of the submissions and responses to the issues that were raised.
The Community Consultation Report will be finalised in the coming months and a copy will be available on this website.
Project background
Corridor strategies set out the NSW Government’s 20 year plan to manage and guide the development of various road corridors to improve safety, traffic efficiency and sustainability.
Find out more about road network and corridor planning on the Transport for NSW website.
Roads and Maritime Services in collaboration with Transport for NSW has prepared a New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy to address the transport needs of the corridor.
This draft strategy sets out the objectives, current performance and issues in managing the corridor over the long-term. It details a series of safety, asset and traffic priorities to address the current and future challenges along the road. The strategy aims to provide transparency and certainty about the direction of future investment.
Vision and priorities
The vision for the New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy is to:
- Enhance safety for all road users by applying a Safe System approach to the planning and management of the New England Highway
- Provide an efficient corridor that caters for increasing growth, including the provision of four lanes from Belford to Muswellbrook
- Support rural industries by providing greater access for Higher Productivity Vehicles
- Feature a sustainable maintenance program with targeted heavy duty road surfaces to support transport needs
- Provide a reliable transport corridor which provides intra-regional, inter-regional and interstate transport linkages
- Provide a safe and efficient corridor through urban environments while maintaining amenity and safety for vulnerable road users.
The draft strategy includes information on challenges along the corridor and sets actions and priorities to guide investment. These include:
- Improving road safety by providing wider lanes, sealed shoulders and wide clear zones
- Intersection upgrades based on safety performance, traffic volumes and freight demand
- Continuing improvements to sections with high crash rates or identified high crash risk locations
- Progressive implementation of dual carriageway between the Golden Highway and Muswellbrook
- Improved overtaking opportunities with new overtaking lanes
- Road surface improvements to reduce ongoing maintenance costs
- Improving route reliability by addressing areas with lower levels of reliability due to flooding, black ice and lack of practical detours.
- Improvements to high priority culverts along the corridor on a risk basis
- Enhancing the freight route to improve the highway corridor for the mining and agriculture industry to enable access for more productive heavy vehicles.
For more information view or download the New England Highway Draft Corridor Strategy and Frequently asked questions.
Next steps
Roads and Maritime will consider the feedback and suggestions received during the comment period to finalise the New England Highway Corridor Strategy.