Singleton Bypass - New England Highway

Reviewed

Project overview

Transport for NSW is planning for a future New England Highway - Singleton Bypass to improve traffic flow, travel times and safety through Singleton town centre by reduced traffic including heavy freight.

The Australian Government has committed $560 million and the NSW Government $140 million to build the Singleton bypass.

Latest news

Nov 2022 – Shortlist of tenders

Transport for NSW has shortlisted the tenderers to design and build the Singleton Bypass. A contract is expected to be announced in mid-2023.

The $700 million joint funded project will remove one of the Hunter region’s most notorious bottlenecks and is now entering the final steps of development and project approval.

The Australian Government has committed $560 million and the NSW Government $140 million to the project.

Transport for NSW has been working on revising the design, which now includes a full interchange with Putty Road and a new 600-metre bridge at the southern connection.

Work continuing to be carried out to progress the bypass includes additional environmental assessments, geotechnical and utility investigations, together with a survey to determine final project boundaries and ongoing discussions with impacted property owners.

The eight-kilometre project will bypass five sets of traffic lights in the CBD and is the largest road infrastructure investment in Singleton's history.

Early work is expected to start later this year and the project is expected to open to traffic by the end of 2026.

Please view the latest project update (PDF, 498.82 KB).

 

Interactive portal

To learn more about this project, view our interactive portal for more information.

Project information

Background

The New England Highway is part of the inland Sydney to Brisbane National Land Transport Network and the primary route connecting the Upper Hunter with Maitland and Newcastle.

The highway passes through the centre of Singleton and carries around 26,000 vehicles, including more than 3700 heavy vehicles, each day.

Traffic volumes are predicted to increase in the next 25 years. The planned bypass of Singleton would improve the movement of freight and journeys for current and future traffic demands.

A preferred option for the bypass was announced in 2016 and involves building a new section of highway west of Singleton across the floodplain, starting near Newington Lane and rejoining the New England Highway north of McDougalls Hill.

The project was approved in August 2020.

Community engagement

Transport for NSW invited feedback from the community about the Singleton Bypass concept design and REF from December 2019 until March 2020.

The public display has now closed and a submissions report (PDF, 20.29 MB) outlining feedback received from the community and our responses has been developed.

We will continue working with the community and stakeholders during the planning process to understand issues and minimise potential impacts

Environmental assessment

The concept design and Review of Environmental Factors (REF) were on display for public comment from Wednesday 18 December 2019 to Sunday 1 March 2020.

During this time, Transport for NSW received a total of 154 submissions relating to the New England highway bypass of Singleton. All submissions made during the display period have been addressed and responded to in a submissions report (PDF, 20.29 MB).

The New England Highway bypass of Singleton Submissions Report relates to the REF prepared for the bypass and summarises the issues raised as well as responses to each issue raised by the community, stakeholders and government agencies.

Next steps

The community will continue to be informed during the development and construction of the project.

Transport for NSW will also continue to consult with Singleton Council as well as other relevant stakeholders and government agencies as the project progresses.

Project documents

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Community information

Frequently Asked Questions

Community updates

Project updates

Review of environmental factors

Reports

Submissions report

Preferred option report

Community consultation report

Preliminary feasibility assessment report

Media releases