Chifley Road Upgrade

The NSW Government has completed the upgrade of sections of Chifley Road between Bell and Lithgow, including the new Clarence Bridge as part of the Bells Line of Road Corridor. The upgrade will provide long-term road safety benefits, more reliable travel times and improve regional access and efficiency..

On 25 June 2018 the Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight announced $95M in funding allocated across the next three years to plan and carry out a range of upgrade projects on the Great Western Highway and Chifley Road between Katoomba and Lithgow.

Project information

Project updates

Clarence Bridge over Rail upgrade

October 2020

The Chifley Road upgrade project officially opened to traffic on 9 October 2020.

Motorists are now enjoying improved safety and more reliable travel times.

Transport for NSW awarded the contract for construction of the new bridge and demolition of existing bridge to Quickway Constructions Pty Ltd.

Construction of the bridge took around six months to build and was completed and open to traffic in February. The demolition of the existing bridge was completed during the February rail shut down.

Work on the approaches and intersection upgrades were completed in October 2020.

Background

Bells Line of Road is a State road which stretches from North Richmond on the north-western outskirts of Sydney to Bell, at the intersection with the Darling Causeway. At this point it becomes Chifley Road which then goes to Clarence and into Lithgow on the western side of the Blue Mountains.

The combination of narrow lanes and shoulders and poor road alignment has led to a high crash rate along Chifley Road.

The proposal is to upgrade Scenic Hill, located about 3km east of Lithgow and replace the Clarence Road over rail bridge located about 5km west of Bell.

Key features

Key features of the road bridge across the railway line at Clarence will include:

Replacing and removing the existing bridge across the Main Western railway line
Widening and realigning Chifley Road to connect to the new bridge
Upgrading the intersection of Chifley Road and the road into the Clarence Colliery.

Key features of the upgrade at Scenic Hill will include:

Widening and realigning Chifley Road at Scenic Hill and providing an additional descending lane and median barrier
Improving the intersection at the Lithgow ex-Prisoner of War Memorial on Scenic Hill
Providing improved concrete drains along road cuttings.

Review of Environmental Factors

A Review of Environmental Factors for Bells Line of Road – Chifley Road Upgrade Bridge replacement over the railway line at Clarence and the upgrade of Scenic Hill has now been determined and published.

Please view or download a copy of:

Next steps

Scenic Hill upgrade

Design work is ongoing, further investigation works are planned for early 2020.

Community information

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

September 2016 frequently asked questions
Bells Line of Road Corridor - Chifley Road upgrade - Scenic Hill and Clarence road bridge.