Thornton Road Bridge Duplication

The NSW Government has announced an additional $35 million to deliver the duplication of Thornton Road Bridge. This takes the NSW Government’s total investment to $50 million.

Transport for NSW will be duplicating Thornton Road Bridge to provide four lanes across the Main North railway at Thornton.

The project will help ease congestion along Thornton Road at this known bottleneck. The close proximity of the existing two lane bridge to the traffic lights at Glenroy Street causes congestion at this pinch point, which a second two lane bridge will help alleviate. 

Thornton Road Bridge provides connectivity over the Main North railway that links the northern parts of Maitland to the M1, Pacific Highway and Hunter Expressway.

In 2012, the current two-lane bridge was constructed to replace the previous two-lane bridge, which had reached the end of its design life. The old bridge was retained and currently provides as an active transport connection over the railway. 

Maitland is the fastest growing regional LGA in the State. Thornton and the surrounding suburbs continue to be a key growth area within the Maitland LGA. In the next 20 years from 2021 to 2041, it’s estimated the Maitland LGA will have an increase of more than 44,000 residents and 11,500 jobs, which will put further pressure on the road network. 

The duplication of Thornton Road Bridge will help meet the future needs of an increased population and employment opportunities in the Thornton area to ensure traffic flows smoothly along Thornton Road and surrounding roads. 

Key benefits of the project also include:

• providing four lanes across the Main North railway to increase the reliability and capacity of  Thornton Road
• helping ease congestion along Thornton Road at the traffic lights on Glenroy Street, especially during peak periods
• contributing to the wider network improvements being planned and delivered by Maitland City Council.

Key issues to be considered include roadworks to the north and the south of the bridge, construction over an operational rail line, utility and property impacts, as well integrating with the wider network improvements being planned and delivered by Maitland City Council.
 

The next steps for the project involve developing a preferred design for the bridge duplication. Transport will consult with Maitland City Council and other key stakeholders. The community will be invited to provide feedback when the preferred design is displayed later this year.

You may notice Transport staff and contractors on site over the coming months as we carry out investigations to identify utilities, geotechnical and environmental constraints, ground survey and other investigations.

Construction will commence once planning is completed.

• September 2025 Night work for survey investigations (PDF, 666.95 KB)
  Field investigations near Thornton Road Bridge, Thornton from Monday 8 September 2025
   

• August 2025 - Thornton Road Bridge project update  (PDF, 237.56 KB)

• June 2025 – NSW Budget provides additional $35 million for Thornton Bridge duplication project