New South Wales Government Launches 1.6 km Safety Upgrade of Mitchell Highway

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 11, the New South Wales Government launched road upgrade works on the southern section of the Mitchell Highway at Neurea, extending approximately 1.6 km south from the intersection of the Mitchell Highway and Kinghorn Street. The project is the fifth of six road safety upgrade projects along the Orange to Wellington corridor and forms part of a road upgrade program with a total investment of AUD 23.1 million, mainly involving shoulder widening, drainage culvert extensions, installation of road safety barriers, and pavement resurfacing.

The works will first widen the existing shoulders on both sides of the road. To meet drainage requirements following the lateral widening of the road, workers will also extend existing culverts and adjust the connections between the road drainage facilities and the widened sections. Once the roadbed and drainage works are completed, surface sealing, updated road markings, and the installation of safety barriers and traffic signs along the road will be carried out. The project also includes the installation of audible tactile line markings, which produce sound and vibration when vehicle tires pass over them, alerting drivers to their lane position and reducing the risk of fatigue-related driving and vehicle run-off-road crashes.

The upgrade of this section adopts a combination of multiple road safety measures. Widened shoulders provide additional recovery space for vehicles that deviate from their normal travel path; roadside safety barriers are used to restrain out-of-control vehicles from leaving the road and reduce the severity of crashes; and audible tactile markings provide physical feedback to alert drivers to correct their direction promptly. The New South Wales Government has identified six road sections between Orange and Wellington as priority upgrade areas, all of which have records of past traffic crashes, with a focus on preventing crashes caused by vehicles leaving the road, head-on collisions, and fatigue driving.

This project continues the upgrade approach used in previous sections of the Mitchell Highway. Previously, the Larras Lee section completed approximately 1.4 km of centerline widening and installed wire rope safety barriers, along with shoulder widening, drainage upgrades, and curb construction; the Quandialla section completed approximately 700 m of shoulder widening and barrier installation; and the Apsley section completed approximately 270 m of shoulder widening, culvert extensions, and safety barrier installation. The Neurea section completed the upgrade of the intersection of Dripstone Road and the Mitchell Highway, drainage culvert extensions, and shoulder widening.

The six projects are located in and around Apsley, Larras Lee, Quandialla, Neurea, Neurea South, and Molong. The final project is located on the outskirts of Molong, north of the intersection of the Mitchell Highway and Speedy Street, and plans to carry out approximately 2.5 km of road safety upgrades, with construction expected to begin in 2027. The overall program will progressively improve highway safety facilities between Orange and Wellington through shoulder, drainage, and safety barrier upgrades distributed across sections with higher crash risk.