Snowy Mountains Highway
Project overview
The Snowy Mountains Highway is 333 kilometres long and links towns such as Bega, Nimmitabel, Cooma, Adaminaby, and Tumut. In the east, the highway begins at the Princes Highway near Bega, runs across the Monaro Plains to Cooma, and then across the Snowy Mountains to the western slopes and through Tumut to meet the Hume Highway.
Latest news
April 2025 – Road safety improvements begin
Work is under way to improve road safety along the full length of the Snowy Mountains Highway. Jointly funded by the Australian and NSW Governments under the Road Safety Program, four projects stretching almost the full 330 kilometre length of the Snowy Mountains Highway will start in April and are expected to be completed by mid-2026.
Work will start Monday 7 April and be carried out weekdays between 6am and 6pm, with occasional night work. Electronic signage will be in place to advise motorists in advance.
Project information
Background
Snowy Mountains Highway, designated as Highway 4 (HW4), is a 333-kilometre-long state highway located in southern New South Wales. The highway is an important freight and tourism link, connecting regional NSW with the South Coast, and the local timber industry with the Hume Highway and ports of Sydney and Melbourne.
The scenic highway begins near Bega and runs west to Bemboka before climbing up of the escarpment of the Great Dividing Range. Winding through the northern end of Kosciuszko National Park and then onto Tumut, it meets up with the Hume Highway in the west.
Current projects
Road Safety Program 2024-2026
Jointly funded by the Australian and NSW Governments under the Road Safety Program, four projects stretching almost the full 330 kilometre length of the Snowy Mountains Highway will start in April and are expected to be completed by mid-2026.
From the intersection with the Hume Highway, through Tumut and all the way to Cooma, multiple safety treatments will be installed including a widened centre line, audio-tactile-line-marking and safety barriers, as well as removing roadside barriers.
From Cooma to the intersection with the Princes Highway near Bega, new safety barriers will be installed to reduce the severity of off-road crashes.
Work will start Monday 7 April 2025 and be carried out weekdays between 6am and 6pm, with occasional night work. Electronic signage will be in place to advise motorists in advance.
To minimise impacts to motorists and the wider community, work will be staggered where possible.
During work hours, a reduced speed of 40 km/h will be in place for the safety of workers and motorists. Single lane closures will be required at times and portable traffic lights will be in place to manage traffic through the work area.
Motorists are advised to drive to the conditions, follow the directions of signs and traffic control, and allow an additional five-minutes travel time.
Snowy Mountains Highway natural disaster recovery
We are working to repair landslip damage on the Snowy Mountains Highway at Brown Mountain as part of the natural disaster recovery response across the state’s road network.
Visit the project webpage to find out more.
Recently completed projects
Snowy Mountains Highway and Batlow Road intersection upgrade
Completed in 2023, work was carried out to improve safety at the intersection of Snowy Mountains Highway and Batlow Road near Tumut.
Visit the project webpage to find out more.
Tumut intersection upgrade
In 2023, we completed work on a new roundabout at the Snowy Mountains Highway intersection with Gocup Road. The new roundabout was delivered as part of the Road Safety Program to improve safety at the Tumut intersection as a regional priority. The project involved a major earthworks program to re-align the intersection and build the new 50-metre-diameter roundabout.
Visit the project webpage to find out more.
Community information
Media releases
- 7 April 2025
Work starts on $36 million safety improvement package
Map of Snowy Mountains Highway
Stay up to date
Sign up to receive occasional email updates about maintenance and safety improvement work planned for the Snowy Mountains Highway. We’ll send occasional emails with details of any potential traffic impacts from planned maintenance and safety work as well as project milestones.
Contact us
For further information, please contact:
Phone: 1800 555 638
Email: southprojects@transport.nsw.gov.au
Mail: PO Box 477, Wollongong NSW 2520