Bruxner Highway and Ballina Road intersection improvements - Alstonville

Transport for NSW has published the consultation summary report in response to the display of the preferred option for the upgrade of the Ballina Road and Bruxner Highway intersection at Alstonville. 

The preferred option was displayed in October and November 2021 to address an existing issue associated with the right turn out of Ballina Road.  

Selection of the preferred route considered social, environmental and economic factors as well as community and stakeholder feedback. 

Following this community consultation, Transport has confirmed that the preferred option will proceed and will progress the concept design and environmental assessment for the project. The community will have the opportunity to provide further feedback later this year.

Transport for NSW thanks the community for its input and contribution to the planning work to date.

The Bruxner Highway is a key movement corridor for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists and plays a vital role in facilitating movement through Lismore while connecting the city to the Ballina/Byron coastal area and west to Casino.

Transport for NSW has been planning improvements along the full length of the Bruxner Highway and has developed a comprehensive Bruxner Highway corridor strategy. This includes investigating viable options to improve safety for all road users and reduce congestion between Ballina and Lismore, notably through Lismore CBD.

In 2010, the $90 million Alstonville bypass was completed, replacing the old highway which ran through the main street of Alstonville. At the eastern end (Sneaths Road) and western end (Ballina Road) of the project, at-grade connections were built to connect back into Alstonville. The project provided significant benefits - including faster travel times, reduced traffic congestion and better pedestrian access and safety within Alstonville and Wollongbar.

Between July 2014 and June 2019, eight crashes were reported at the Bruxner Highway and Ballina Road intersection at Alstonville, with the right turn out of Ballina Road associated with the most severe crashes at the site.

In 2018, minor improvements were made to the intersection including lengthening the eastbound merge lane, building a separated left turn lane and placing a temporary ban on right turns from Ballina Road onto the highway between 3-6pm due to glare from the sun.

In March 2019, in response to the community’s concerns, the NSW Government committed to further improve safety at the intersection.

The proposed design improves safety at the Ballina Road intersection, by:

• Improving right and left turn lanes from the highway onto Ballina Road and permanently removing the critical right turn out of Ballina Road onto the highway
• Providing a new westbound on-ramp at Ellis Road onto the Bruxner Highway, utilising the existing overbridge at Wardell Road for motorists travelling towards Lismore.

Benefits of the proposal:

• Permanently removes the right turn out and betters left turn in to improve safety
• Minimal noise and environmental impacts, including no impacts to nearby waterways
• No travel time impacts to vehicles using the highway
• Fits with longer term highway planning
• No property acquisition
• Minimal impacts to town centre traffic.

Around 20,000 motorists use this section of the Bruxner Highway daily.

Transport carried out extensive traffic modelling and investigations to exploring potential options to improve safety at the intersection.

Traffic modelling was completed at the Ballina Road intersection that indicated:

• The existing intersection remains efficient into the future with no delays being experienced by motorist travelling along the highway.
• A roundabout would incur delays and traffic congestion for all movements including through trips from Pacific Highway to Lismore. The Bruxner Highway efficiency will be significantly impacted due to changes in priority, with potential safety issues for queueing highway traffic being introduced.
• Traffic signals would also not be effective for traffic efficiency, delays would be incurred on all movements and the level of service would be below the acceptable level.
• Longer term planning indicates that a grade separated intersection is the preferred future treatment, when traffic volumes and residential growth reaches appropriate levels.

These investigations found major upgrades to Ballina Road intersection were not required at this time. The best safety outcome for this intersection would be to remove the main conflict point, that is, the right-hand-turn from Ballina Road onto the highway and utilise the existing overbridge at Wardell Road and look at including an on-ramp for westbound traffic using the Bruxner Highway heading towards Lismore.

Traffic modelling was also carried out to determine the viability of the proposal. This includes changes to vehicle movements through the Alstonville local road network following removal of the right-hand turn from Ballina Road to use the proposed westbound on ramp when travelling towards Lismore.

Traffic modelling showed an additional 54 vehicles in the morning peak and 24 trips in the afternoon peak that would be redirected through Alstonville from the Ballina Road intersection. Of these, only a small proportion of about 15 trips in the morning and 13 in the afternoon would travel through Alstonville’s main street. There would be negligible impacts from this minor diversion of local traffic through the Alstonville network.

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Alstonville Access Ramps infographic

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Transport has considered the feedback from the community and determined the preferred option will proceed. We are continuing to plan for the delivery of the project and are progressing the design and environmental assessment for the intersection upgrade.  

The environmental assessment will include more detailed information about the design features, potential benefits, and impacts. The community will have the opportunity to provide further feedback on the proposal later this year.

Timing for construction has not been confirmed and is subject to project approval.

We will keep the community updated as the project progresses.

• Review of environmental factors (PDF, 29.08 MB)
  Main report
• Appendix C (PDF, 7.42 MB)
  Visual Impact Assessment
• Appendix D (PDF, 10.13 MB)
  Biodiversity Assessment
• Appendix E (PDF, 263.22 KB)
  Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advice
• Appendix F (PDF, 618.14 KB)
  Operational road traffic noise report
• Appendix G (PDF, 205.17 KB)
  Transport’s Roadside Air Quality Screening Tool
• Appendix H (PDF, 2.06 MB)
  Construction Noise Estimator Tool
• May 2024 Consultation summary report (PDF, 1.23 MB)
  Ballina Road and the Bruxner Highway intersection
  Preferred option

• April 2025 Community notification (PDF, 257.15 KB)
  Bruxner Highway and Ballina Road intersection improvements– Review of Environmental Factors on display
• April 2025 frequently asked questions (PDF, 430.72 KB)
  Bruxner Highway and Ballina Road intersection improvements– Review of Environmental Factors on display
• October 2021 Community update

• Ballina Road map

  Preferred option at Ballina Road interchange.

• Ellis Road map

  Preferred option at Ellis Road.