Mount Ousley safety and reliability improvements

Transport for NSW (Transport) is investigating options to improve the safety, reliability and resilience of the M1 Princes Motorway between Picton Road and the Mount Ousley interchange at the base of Mount Ousley.

Project information

Background

The Mount Ousley Safety and Reliability project will explore a five-kilometre section of the M1 Princes Motorway between Picton Road and the Mount Ousley interchange at the base of Mount Ousley.

The project is currently in the early stages of investigating options to improve the safety, reliability and resilience of this section of the motorway.

The M1 Princes Motorway in this location forms part of the key corridor for movement of freight between the Illawarra region and Greater Metropolitan Sydney via the Princes and Hume Highways (via Picton Road). It is the only crossing of the Illawarra escarpment suitable for higher productivity freight vehicles, with alternative routes subject to load limits and other restrictions.

This section of the motorway through Mount Pleasant and Mount Ousley carries about 55,000 vehicles per day and is currently subject to traffic congestion, particularly during weekday peak periods and weekend/holiday peaks. The steep road grades and road geometry, variable posted speeds for heavy and light vehicles, and capacity constraints all combine to generate significant vehicle movements which impact road safety and the ability to respond efficiently to unplanned incidents. The challenging topography and high traffic volumes result in regular planned closures of this section of the motorway for routine maintenance.

The NSW and Australian governments have jointly committed $10 million towards planning options to improve the safety and reliability of this section of the motorway. Funding for delivery of improvements will be subject to future funding decisions by the NSW and Australian Governments.

Benefits

The project aims to identify measures to improve safety for all road users, improve traffic performance and reliability, enable effective operations management for maintenance, roadside assistance and incident response, and strengthen the freight network’s resilience.

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