Golden Highway upgrades

Transport for NSW has awarded a contract to Acciona Construction Australia Pty Ltd for construction of the Mudies Creek flood immunity project.

This project has been packaged with the New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway. Work on the Mudies Creek component is expected to start in 2022.

The Golden Highway is a 313 kilometre long rural highway, mostly with single lanes, connecting the New England Highway at Belford in the Hunter Valley to the Newell Highway at Dubbo via Denman, Merriwa and Dunedoo.

The route has been identified as an important connection between the Central West and the Port of Newcastle. There is also a State target to facilitate the movement of high productivity vehicles on the highway in the long term due to the constraints that make such a connection between the Central West and Sydney via the Great Western Highway less cost effective.

A corridor strategy was developed to assist Transport for NSW prioritise improvements targeting freight access, road safety, asset condition and traffic efficiency. More information is also available in the community consultation report.

The package of upgrades has been funded under the NSW Government’s Regional Freight Pinch Point and Safety Program and the Australian Government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Package.

The NSW Government is providing $109 million funding, with an additional $24 million funding from the Australian Government, for the package of upgrades.

To see the locations of the upgrades along the highway, view or download the Golden Highway upgrades overview map.

Work on the upgrades started in 2016 and all projects are expected to be completed by 2024.

The NSW Government is also funding a $97 million upgrade of the New England Highway between Belford and the Golden Highway intersection to improve traffic flow, travel times and safety for motorists.

The package of upgrades includes:

• Road rebuilding, shoulder widening, and clear zone work along 45 kilometres of the Golden Highway
• Intersection improvements
• Acceleration lanes to improve the efficiency of through movements on the Golden Highway at Putty Road and Denman Road
• Flood immunity work at Mudies Creek and Uarbry Creek
• Railway level crossing upgrade at Denman
• New heavy vehicle enforcement stations
• New overtaking lanes
• Program of improvements to heavy vehicle rest areas and stopping bays.

Mudies Creek

The Mudies Creek proposal involves building a new road crossing at Mudies Creek to withstand a one in 100 year flood. A new 30 metre long bridge will be built over Mudies Creek and would be three metres higher than the current road level to improve travel reliability on the Golden Highway during flood events.

Work is currently underway on the environmental assessment. Work is expected to start in 2022.

• Ogilvies Hill overtaking lanes
• Winery Hill overtaking lanes
• Road rebuilding at Gungal
• Denman Road intersection upgrade
• Road widening east of Denman
• Putty Road intersection
• Mount Thorley interchange
• Denman Level Crossing and Mangoola Road intersection upgrade
• Denman Road widening
• Warkworth Heavy Vehicle Stopping Bay.

• June 2018 community consultation report

  Mudies Creek and Whittingham.

• November 2021
  Golden Highway upgrade starts west of Merriwa.
• July 2020
  Golden Highway upgrades between Dubbo and Dunedoo.
• July 2020
  Golden Highway upgrades at Ogilvies Hill and Winery Hill complete.
• May 2020
  Stimulus boost for Upper Hunter roadworks.