A new four-lane stretch of the Greater Western Highway at the foot of the Blue Mountains was opened to traffic earlier this week.
The $232 million Coxs River Road Upgrade at Hartley features a 70-metre-long road bridge over the four new lanes of highway traffic, and was switched to the new 2.4-kilometre alignment on Wednesday morning.
The bridge and road have been built from locally sourced materials including concrete from Lithgow and quarry materials from Oberon. The bridge rests on 14 precast Super T girders, each on 34 metres long and weighing 60 tonnes.
NSW Labor Bathurst spokesperson Stephen Lawrence has praised the work of the crews who completed the project.
“The new highway alignment at Little Hartley is a credit to the workers who helped build it,” Lawrence says.
“The project was delivered in sometimes challenging conditions, with crews laying over 67,000 tonnes of asphalt to build a dual-lane, separated highway despite losing about 15 weeks to poor weather since construction started.
“Landscaping and construction of a shared path on the old highway are expected to continue for another few months while the Coxs River Road Upgrade has also delivered a realignment of the old highway to create a service road for local businesses, upgraded junctions at Browns Gap Road, Coxs River Road and Ambermere Drive, and a U-turn bay on Baaners Lane.”
“This upgrade will help improve safety and cut congestion for motorists along a key regional route,” Minister for Roads Jenny Aitchison says.
“I’d like to thank local businesses and community members for their patience as this upgrade work was carried out.
“I’d like to thank the more than 530 workers who helped make this important project possible. They’ve done a fantastic job and I was very happy to hear 30 per cent of the workforce came from local communities.”
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