News archive - Barton Highway

The Barton Highway team will be at this years Murrumbateman Field Days on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October.

Come meet the team and find out the latest updates on Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the Barton Highway upgrades. We are also bringing our Be Truck Aware campaign to show transport customers how to take extra care around trucks on the Barton Highway. There will also be a fully supervised and interactive demonstration on site with our water tanker truck.

The team will be on site all weekend, come say hi!

When: Saturday 15 October 8am to 5pm and Sunday 16 October 8am to 4pm
Where: Site 38-39 Murrumbateman Recreation Grounds, 19 East Street, Murrumbateman NSW

A community update (PDF, 2.94Mb) sharing our work so far on the first stage of the Barton Highway upgrade is now available. It includes an update on our little friends that can fly through the air, are obsessed with sweet treats and have a front row seat to the Barton Highway Upgrade! It’s the country’s best-known petaurid, the sugar glider.

Early environmental investigations flagged the possibility of squirrel gliders living near the site of the first stage of duplication on the ACT-NSW border.

Extensive investigations revealed no vulnerable squirrel gliders, however, 23 sugar gliders were captured, with an estimated population of about 38 in the area. Watch as glider expert, Dr David Sharpe, explains more about the investigations, or read our fact sheet (PDF, 769Kb) about these furry little critters.

In January 2021, a group of trees of Aboriginal cultural significance were located near Kaveneys Road. These trees would have been impacted by work to duplicate the highway.

Since the discovery, we have paused work on this section for investigations to be carried out in consultation with Registered Aboriginal Parties, archaeologists and other specialists.

Transport for NSW acknowledges the importance of the trees of significance to the community and has committed to protecting the group of trees.

While alternatives are being considered, work on the project is continuing from the ACT/ NSW border to the north of Briarwood Lane, with more than 65,000 cubic metres of earth work – the equivalent of 130,000 trailer loads – completed and crews to be back on the job from 10 January 2022 after the Christmas shut down.

For further information read our media release.

A community update and 3D flyover animation featuring the detailed design for the first stage of the Barton Highway upgrade is now available, highlighting key features of the design and refinements made in response to community feedback.

See the latest community update (PDF, 3.03Mb).

Construction has started on the Barton Highway upgrade.

See the latest community update (PDF, 685Kb) for an overview of progress on the project, next steps and recent heritage and archaeological salvage work.

The announcement of the Barton Highway alliance is an exciting step towards the start of construction on stage one of the duplication.

See the new community update (PDF, 2.35Mb) to meet the alliance team and find out the latest news on the Barton Highway upgrade project.

Work has officially started on stage one of the Barton Highway duplication with a turning of the sod on Monday 23 November 2020.

The first sod was turned by NSW Senator Jim Molan AO DSC, Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckermann, Yass Valley Council mayor Rowena Abbey and Transport for NSW Director South Sam Knight.

Stage one will build new northbound lanes from the ACT border to Kaveneys Road. These new lanes will be separated from the existing highway, resulting in reduced traffic impacts during construction.

Minor work has started with fencing, utility relocations and salvage work to prepare the site for major work that will begin in early 2021.

Work will be carried out between 7am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 7am to 1pm on Saturdays.

There will be minimal traffic impacts as early work is carried out. We will keep you informed as work continues and inform you in advance if there is any impact to traffic.

It is anticipated the initial duplication work will be completed in 2023, weather permitting.

Transport for NSW has formed an alliance with Seymour Whyte and SMEC to design and construct the initial length of Barton Highway duplication from the ACT border towards Murrumbateman.Qualified contractors were invited to tender in October last year to build the $100 million first stage of duplication, and Seymour Whyte and SMEC were selected as the successful candidates after a competitive tender process and participating in a series of technical workshops.

A partnership with the private sector will enable Transport for NSW to be more agile, and leverage expertise for a speedier delivery and better value for money.

It is anticipated duplication of the Barton Highway from the ACT border towards Murrumbateman will start on site later this year and be completed in 2023.

Meanwhile, a submissions report has been produced, summarising all feedback to the Review of Environmental Factors (REF) for the Barton Highway duplication project.

Thanks to the responses received during the submission period, a key design improvement has been made by adding a dedicated right turn from the highway to Kaveneys Road to improve safety.

Pedestrian and cyclist safety improvement work has started in Murrumbateman village. A community update (PDF, 770Kb) provides an overview of these changes, including upgrading existing footpaths, installing pedestrian safety fences and improving traffic flow through Jones Park rest area. The work is expected to be completed by late October, weather permitting.

As we move closer to the duplication of the Barton Highway from the ACT border towards Murrumbateman, we have been busy finalising a number of plans and processes.

See the Autumn community update (PDF,785Kb) to find out how we’re working to build you the best Barton possible.