Second stage of $218 million upgrade to an important Western Australian freight link to begin.
Work will soon start on the second stage of the North West Coastal Highway upgrade in Western Australia to bolster an important freight link servicing the mining and resources sector.
Briery Bocol Joint Venture has been been appointed to carry out the 107km upgrade of the highway between Mia Mia and Barradale, north of Minilya in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region.
Road construction is expected to start in March 2015 and will take two years to complete.
“The upgrades will boost economic growth and performance in the mining, oil, gas and tourism industries because the highway is the main link between Geraldton, Carnarvon, Karratha, Port Hedland and beyond,” federal assistant infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs says.
“This section of highway carries 500 vehicles every day with more than 37 per cent being heavy vehicles, and this number is expected to grow in the years ahead.
“This project will improve the productivity and safety of freight transport in north Western Australia and will deliver better roads for regional communities.”
WA transport minister Dean Nalder says the upgrade will involve road reconstruction, widening and resurfacing between Mia Mia and Barradale. He says two passing lanes will be built and two all-weather bridge crossings will be erected at Cave and Goodeman creeks.
“The upgraded highway, as well as the new bridge crossings located between Barradale and Nanutarra, will improve the reliability and efficiency of freight movements and reduce the freight costs to resource operations and communities throughout the region associated with frequent closures,” Nalder says.
The new bridge crossings will be designed to reduce the likelihood of closures during the wet season, which hampers the movement of freight in the Gascoyne.
The Federal Government has provided $174 million to the project, with $44 million coming from WA.