Following a fortnight hiatus due to the Christmas and New Year period, crews will resume work on major road projects throughout the Hunter this week.
That includes ventures such as the Hexham Straight Widening, M1 Pacific Motorway extension to Raymond Terrace, Newcastle Inner City Bypass (Rankin Park to Jesmond) and Singleton Bypass from Monday 5 January.
Meanwhile, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is encouraging motorists to plan their trip on the Pacific Highway, through Hexham, with significant congestion expected this month.
As a known “pinch point”, southbound traffic’s predicted to be heavy on Fridays 9 and 16 January.
In fact, road-users could face delays of up to 45 minutes.
Substantial improvements have been made on the M1 Pacific Motorway and New England Highway since last summer, with noticeable changes in flow.
However, speed limits remain reduced over the holidays, even when work is paused for motorist safety.
Conditions may include narrow lanes, changed lane merges and altered traffic configurations.
To view the Hexham area in real time, visit https://www.livetraffic.com/incident-details/258559
Newcastle Road, Jesmond
Motorists are advised of changed overnight traffic conditions as work restarts on the Newcastle Inner City Bypass – Rankin Park to Jesmond project.
To minimise any impacts, single lane closures will be in place in both directions on Newcastle Road between Drury Street and Robinson Avenue from 7pm to 5am, Sunday to Thursday, from Monday 5 January for up to six weeks.
The westbound bus priority lane at the intersection of Newcastle Road and Blue Gum Road has now been permanently closed.
Buses travelling north are to use the right-hand turn lane into Blue Gum Road.
Traffic control, reduced speed limits and signage will be in place for the safety of everyone.
Motorists are urged to drive to the conditions or use alternate routes where possible as the work may add up to 10 minutes to journey times.
Operators of Over-Size Over-Mass (OSOM) vehicles travelling along Newcastle Road with a ground contact wider than 3.2m or with overall width greater than 4.5m must contact the project team on 1800 818 433 at least one day ahead of movement to avoid significant delays.
For more news stories:
- Port Stephens eyes off new opportunities amid natural disasters, airport expansion
- Police crackdown nets numerous out-of-town offenders at Swansea Bridge
- Council slams property developer’s claims it’s delayed $50m housing project
Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, real estate, entertainment, lifestyle and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
