18 November 2015

Minister for Roads Duncan Gay today advised some of the frustration previously experienced by motorists travelling on NSW roads will be reduced this Christmas period with a number of key holiday traffic hotspots now fixed.

Minister Gay said since last Christmas, the NSW Government has delivered major pinch point upgrades along notorious stretches of road to cut travel times and improve safety.

“More than $1.4 billion worth of road projects have been delivered this year on major holiday routes, including the opening of the $340 million Princes Highway upgrade at Gerringong and the $170 million Central Coast Highway upgrade at West Gosford,” Mr Gay said.

Minister Gay said even though many hotspots such as these had been fixed, all road users should still plan ahead as higher traffic volumes are expected over the summer holiday period.

“Road users should allow extra travel time around key holiday pinch points such as Macksville, Warnervale, Berry, Nelligen, Albion Park, Coffs Harbour, Ewingsdale, and Batemans Bay,” Mr Gay said.

“To help alleviate congestion we have implemented changed traffic arrangements in hotspots such as Macksville, where changes will be made to traffic signals, following a successful trial over Easter.

“Milton is also another hotspot where we will have on road traffic crews monitoring traffic at the southern and northern ends of the town, and crossing co-ordinators based at the main pedestrian crossing to ensure traffic is flowing smoothly in and out of the town centre.”

To further ease pressures on the road network all general maintenance work on state roads will be suspended between Sunday 19 December and Monday 4 January.

Road closures will be in place in several CBD locations for New Year’s Eve celebrations and extra public transport services will be operating.

Work on all major upgrades is also being suspended to minimise the impact on holiday makers.

Other measures being implemented across the state to alleviate congestion at hotspots include;

• Lifting speed limits around major road work sites (e.g. Foxground to Berry, Pacific Highway, Princes Highway and Olympic Highway etc.)
• Extra ‘on road’ crews and emergency patrols to provide immediate response to incidents.
• Co-ordination of all regional traffic from a dedicated holiday traffic operations centre – getting real time travel information out to the public faster.
• Increased traffic signal monitoring to optimise traffic flow, manual changes will be used when required
• Getting further information out to motorists with electronic messaging signs at known hotspots.

“For those travelling large distances, I urge them to stop and revive at one of around 80 Driver Reviver Sites throughout NSW, to ensure they get to their destination safely,” Mr Gay said.

MEDIA: Clementine Julian| Minister Gay | 0417 635 891