City of Newcastle is moving forward with plans to ease congestion in the growing western corridor, seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from contractors to deliver two dual-lane road upgrades.
Detailed designs are progressing to widen and upgrade Minmi Road (between Maryland Drive and the Summerhill Road roundabout) and Longworth Avenue.
The projects will create two lanes of traffic in each direction to reduce traffic congestion and bottlenecks, as well as remove difficult right turns and add in separate, dedicated turning lanes where possible.
Following the EOI process, a shortlisted group of contractors will be invited to submit a tender for a combined construction package later this year, with works planned to commence in early 2025.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes reiterated the importance of these upgrades to the community.
"This project will play a critical role in easing congestion and improving the flow of traffic and therefore safety in this growing part of our city," Cr Nelmes said.
"Feedback received from the community on the concept designs indicated strong support for the prioritisation of these works, and a desire to see travel times reduced and safety improved.
"Calling for expressions of interest now, followed by a selective tender process, will ensure that we have a contractor in place to commence work early next year."
Executive Manager Project Management Office Robert Dudgeon acknowledged the need to plan ahead for construction.
"We recognise that construction of this scale can have an impact on the day-to-day journey for commuters in the area, and that our upgrade will be delivered in parallel with a number of other major road upgrades including the nearby Inner City Bypass," Mr Dudgeon said.
"We have looked ahead to determine strategies for alleviating congestion and minimising delays to commuters during the construction phase."
To improve traffic flow both ahead of and during construction of these upgrades, a series of smaller traffic changes are being considered and will be shared with the community for feedback in the coming weeks.
"Making adjustments to the flow of traffic in neighbouring areas will help reduce bottlenecks that result from the changes required to deliver these much-needed upgrades," Mr Dudgeon said.
The community can provide feedback on the proposed traffic changes from 31 May until 1 July by visiting City of Newcastle's Have Your Say website.
A Lord Mayoral Minute in 2022 allocated $26 million to the Minmi Road and Longworth Avenue projects.
City of Newcastle also secured $7.61 million from the NSW Government's Accelerated Infrastructure Fund to contribute towards the projects.
