City of Newcastle is moving forward with the largest roadworks project in its history after awarding a $38.7 million tender for crucial dual lane upgrades in the growing western corridor.
Daracon will begin work early next year to deliver the road widening project on Longworth Avenue and Minmi Road, which will play a critical role in easing congestion and improving the flow of traffic through the notorious bottlenecks.
The intersection of Cowper Street and Kokera Street will also be upgraded from a roundabout to traffic control signals under the same construction contract, which was awarded unanimously by councillors at last night's Council meeting.
Lord Mayor Ross Kerridge acknowledged the importance of these upgrades to the community.
"The widening of Minmi Road is a crucial project that will improve traffic flow, reduce travel times and improve safety in Newcastle's growing western suburbs," Cr Kerridge said.
"The unanimous support shown by the elected Council for this significant roadworks project reflects the keen anticipation within our community to see construction begin and progress as quickly as possible."
Ward 4 Councillors Elizabeth Adamczyk, Deahnna Richardson and Depuy Lord Mayor Callum Pull welcomed the progress on this key road project and its benefits for local travellers.
"This is about bedding down our continued commitment to our western corridor and I am pleased that with this tender we are able to continue the next critical stage of this work," Cr Adamczyk said.
"This project recognises the needs of this booming population centre and reinforces our commitment to maintaining and enhancing its essential community infrastructure," Cr Richardson said.
"The widening of Minmi Road is the kind of project that actually makes a difference in people's lives and I'm happy to see this moving forward," Cr Pull said.
Detailed designs have been completed for the upgrades at Longworth Avenue and the stretch of Minmi Road from the Summerhill Road roundabout to Maryland Drive.
The projects will create two lanes of traffic in each direction to reduce traffic congestion and bottlenecks, as well as remove difficult right turns and add in separate, dedicated turning lanes where possible.
Executive Director City Infrastructure Clint Thomson said City of Newcastle was progressing associated upgrades at five intersections in Wallsend, which will pave the way for the main construction work to start early next year.
"The western corridor road upgrade is a complex, multi-year project that should improve the lives of current and future residents of Wallsend, Maryland, Fletcher, and Minmi, and provide lasting benefits by creating safer, more efficient and accessible routes for vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists," Mr Thomson said.
"While the road network and traffic performance will be significantly improved, we recognise that projects of this scale can have impacts during construction, and will put strategies in place where feasible to minimise delays to commuters during the construction phase.
"This includes the upgrades our crews are currently delivering in surrounding areas, which will ease congestion, reduce bottlenecks, and increase safety for all road users before and during the upcoming major works."
City of Newcastle secured $7.61 million from the NSW Government's Accelerated Infrastructure Fund to contribute towards the projects.
