The Bells Line of Road in New South Wales is set to receive a $100 million suite of safety upgrades.
Traffic numbers are increasing on the Bells Line of Road and in recent years, it has been heavily impacted by extreme weather from floods to fires.
Civil engineering specialist firm Civil Consulting and Highway Design (CCHD) has won the tender to investigate and identify strategic upgrade options, which will support future works.
A range of improvements are being considered including new overtaking lanes, realigning curves, installing safety barriers and intersection upgrades.
NSW minister for regional transport Jenny Aitchison says they are grateful to the Australian Government for their commitment and support in improving resilience and safety in the Blue Mountains.
“The road is very vulnerable to closures from bushfires and landslips, which result in delays for motorists and makes it difficult to manage traffic during incidents,” she says.
“It also has a crash rate higher than other similar NSW roads.
“Transport for NSW will engage with local councils and other targeted stakeholders to make sure that options put forward align with council and community aspirations.
“This will help ensure that upgrades will benefit both local traffic, and the commuters, tourists and freight operators who travel along it every day.”
Further development will be required in future stages. The wider community and other stakeholders will be consulted on a proposed shortlist of projects, by the end of this year.
State member for Blue Mountains Trish Doyle says it’s important that this vital project has reached the point where shortlisted improvements will be released for community consultation.
“When that time comes, I encourage everyone to take part and have their say,” she says.