Barton Highway corridor upgrade - Stage 2 - Barton Highway

Reviewed

The Australian and NSW governments have together committed $200 million towards the upgrade of the Barton Highway, with $150 million provided by the Australian Government and $50 million by the NSW Government.

This funding is being used across two projects along the corridor, with Stage 1 now complete (the Barton Highway upgrade package), and Stage 2 in planning (the Barton Highway corridor upgrade).

This work will improve road safety while enhancing tourism, driving economic growth and creating vibrant regional spaces.

Latest News

October 2023 – Preferred design for Kaveneys Road

The early design for Kaveneys Road intersection has been completed, with the intersection to be delivered as part of the second stage of duplication.

Key features of the design include:

  • a wide median measuring about 45 metres wide, allowing trucks to safely queue without blocking oncoming road users
  • turnaround bays allowing safe turning movements for buses and heavy vehicles
  • lanes allowing all turning movements, not just left-in, left-out
  • a less steep southbound carriageway, allowing more efficient up-hill acceleration.

See the preferred concept design below.


Project information

Duplication from Kaveneys Road toward Murrumbateman

The Barton Highway is a significant transport link between NSW and ACT and is being upgraded by Transport for NSW. Stage 2 of this project will involve the upgrade of this highway, from Kaveneys Road in Jeir towards Murrumbateman.

This major corridor serves to connect communities to essential services, employment, health care, education opportunities and supporting freight movement. The Barton Highway corridor upgrade will connect to the national road network as a Sydney-Canberra link within the broader Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne road network.

Transport for NSW started work on Stage 1 of the corridor upgrade in December 2020 and the project was completed in February 2024, Stage 2 of the upgrade, including its numerous safety improvements, will benefit all motorists and support freight movement between Yass, the ACT, and southern and western NSW. This upgrade will also reduce crash rates along the highway to provide a safer, efficient, and more reliable journey for all road users.

Stage 2 of the Barton Highway corridor upgrade is progressing through early planning with consultation on concept designs and Review of Environmental Factors (REF) scheduled for 2024. We anticipate construction to start in 2025.

Project background

The Barton Highway serves as an essential transport and freight link between southern and western areas of NSW and ACT.

In January 2017, the Barton Highway Improvement Strategy was published and outlined a variety of short (0-5 years), medium (5-10 years) and long-term (10-20 years) investment actions to address road safety and traffic delay matters, which constantly occur anywhere along the 52-kilometre corridor. A significant aspect of the short to medium-term priorities was to design and develop additional overtaking lanes with full duplication of the Barton Highway listed as a long-term priority.

In order to achieve these priorities, the Australian Government, in conjunction with NSW Government, committed $200 million towards the Barton Highway corridor upgrade.

Project scope

The purpose of the Barton Highway corridor ppgrade is to address the growth in traffic due to population and economic growth in the region. As a result of the changing landscape, the Barton Highway Improvement Strategy identified a range of short to medium term actions to address safety matters along this major transport network. With Stage 1 of the upgrade almost complete, Stage 2 of duplication is expected to run from the near Kaveneys Road in Jeir towards Murrumbateman.

In line with the Barton Highway Improvement Strategy, published in 2017, the following sections of the highway have also been added to the Stage 2 upgrade program to undergo a series of safety improvements including:

  • realignment of Hillview Drive, Vallencia Drive and Gooda Creek Road intersections
  • strategic business case for the proposed stages of duplication of the Barton Highway
  • safety work including clear zones, improving bus stop locations, intelligent Transport System solutions for trip reliability and incident response management.

The Barton Highway corridor upgrade will bring major benefits to its customers, including safer and reduced travel times, along with transport efficiency, reliability and improved amenity for local communities.

Concept design

Transport for NSW is currently working on a concept design for stage 2 of the Barton Highway Corridor Upgrade by carrying out consultation with key stakeholders, including Registered Aboriginal Parties. Transport for NSW aims to listen and take action, consult and collaborate, make safety the key priority and keep transport users informed of how the Barton Highway upgrade will benefit the community.

We look forward to sharing the concept design and Review of Environmental Factors with the community in 2024 for feedback. 
We will be in touch with the community and key stakeholders as we have more information.

 Project documents

Some documents on this page may not comply with accessibility requirements (WCAG).

If you are having trouble accessing information in these documents, please contact us.

 

Factsheets

Contact us

For further information about this project, please contact:

Phone: 1800 931 250 (toll free)

Email: barton.highway@transport.nsw.gov.au

Mail: Transport for NSW, PO Box 484, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650

 

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