End of the road for Great Western Highway upgrade at Little Hartley
A two-and-a-half-year project to upgrade the Great Western Highway at the foot of the Blue Mountains has come to an end, with all work now completed.
The $232 million Coxs River Road Upgrade at Little Hartley has been jointly funded by the Australian and NSW governments and features a new 2.4-kilometre four-lane alignment of the Great Western Highway and 70-metre long road bridge to take local traffic, pedestrians and cyclists safely over the highway.
Traffic switched to the new highway alignment in April this year and since then crews have been putting the finishing touches to the project, including new landscaping, completing more than two kilometres of shared path that connects local roads, and installing new signage for passing motorists.
The upgrade has also delivered a realignment of the old highway to create a service road for local businesses, upgraded intersections at Browns Gap Road, Coxs River Road, Ambermere Drive and Baaners Lane, and a U-turn bay on Baaners Lane.
“The Great Western Highway is the key route linking Sydney to the state’s Central West and the Coxs River Road Upgrade is already reducing congestion and improving accessibility for local and highway road users,” a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.
“In addition, the new road bridge on Coxs River Road - with its own shared cycle and pedestrian path - quickly and safely takes local traffic over the four-lane highway, meaning an end to the long waits that local traffic often endured trying to join or cross the highway, particularly in busy holiday periods.
“New landscaping work featuring native species has created a visually appealing section of highway for passing motorists and we’re also proud of the new retaining walls that have been finished in materials selected by the community to reflect the local environment.”
The new highway alignment and bridge were built from locally sourced materials including concrete from Lithgow and quarry materials from Oberon.
The Coxs River Road Upgrade supported more than 530 jobs with 30 per cent of that workforce coming from surrounding local government areas.
More information on the upgrade of the Great Western Highway at Coxs River Road is available on the Transport for NSW website.