Good as Newell: Overtaking lane now open north of Forbes

A new southbound overtaking lane on the Newell Highway at Daroobalgie is now open, delivering safer and faster journeys for locals, tourists and freight operators travelling between Parkes and Forbes.
It is the latest overtaking lane completed as part of the four-year project by the Newell Highway Program Alliance (NHPA) to build about 60 kilometres of new overtaking opportunities along the full length of the highway between the Victorian border and Queensland border.
Transport for NSW Regional Director West Alistair Lunn said the Daroobalgie project had experienced a number of setbacks including unusual Gilgai sub soils (shrink-swell clay depressions) and extreme weather that flooded the site in late 2022.
“Thousands of people travel along this section of the Newell Highway every day, including many freight operators and caravanners, so the addition of a new southbound overtaking lane will help keep traffic moving and ease the frustration that can come with driving behind a slower moving vehicle,” Mr Lunn said.
“Completion of this overtaking lane was hindered by extreme weather last year and the redeployment of crews to carry out emergency flood repairs, including heavy patching around Parkes and Forbes. But line-marking has now been completed and the overtaking lane is open, and it is a very welcome addition along this section of the Newell.”
A northbound rest area that had been closed during construction of the overtaking lane has now been reopened to all users following the demobilisation of the site.
The NHPA has now completed 31 new overtaking lanes stretching from Tocumwal in the south of the state to Narrabri in the north, with seven more still in construction.
More information on the Newell Highway overtaking lanes is available on the Transport for NSW website.