The long-awaited upgrade of Central Coast Hwy between Wamberal and Bateau Bay is a step closer with early planning work now underway on the heavily used stretch of road.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal, Adam Crouch, and roads Minister, Paul Toole, were on site on January 20 to check progress. “Central Coast Hwy is the key road linking Gosford and Erina to The Entrance, ” Crouch said.
“Thanks to an early investment of $4M, planning is now taking place, with geotechnical work including borehole drilling to test the ground conditions. “The results will help to prepare the detailed design for the proposed 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. “While construction remains some way off, this early planning work is a crucial part of any project. ”
Minister Toole said the State Government had committed $387M to duplicate this important road section. “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, ” he said.
“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. ”
Source: Media release, Jan 20 Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Terrigal MP, Adam Crouch