Work begins on $387m upgrade of Central Coast Highway between Wamberal and Bateau Bay
Congestion-busting work has started on a $387m upgrade of a notoriously busy stretch of the Central Coast Highway.
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Planning work is underway to upgrade one of the Central Coast’s worst roads between Wamberal and Bateau Bay.
The 3.8km section of Central Coast Highway is one of the coast’s notorious bottlenecks used by 26,000 drivers a day.
The $387 million upgrade will convert the section of the highway into two lanes in each direction to ensure a dual carriageway along the highway from Kariong to Bateau Bay.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast Adam Crouch said Central Coast Highway was a key road linking Gosford and Erina to The Entrance.
“Thanks to an early investment of $4 million, planning is now taking place, with geotechnical work including borehole drilling to test the ground conditions,” he said.
“The results will help to prepare the detailed design for the proposed highway upgrade.
“After these investigations, the project will start work on the preliminary environmental assessments, traffic modelling along the corridor, flood investigations and more field investigations.
“This is a significant first step towards making travel easier, faster and safer for the 26,000 motorists that use this section of road every day.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole made the trip down to the coast for the announcement. He said the project was going to be a challenge.
“It’s going to be a challenging project, with limited space available, but we’re not shying away from the hard projects because we know what they mean for the community,” he said.
“This is the only section of the Highway between Kariong and Bateau Bay which isn’t two lanes in both directions, and that’s a real problem during peak hours or when there is an accident.”