John Hunter Roadworks Renew Calls To Expedite The Newcastle Inner City Bypass

BY JARROD MELMETH

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery says while she welcomes traffic improvement measures at the John Hunter Hospital, only the construction of a second entrance and expedition of Stage 5 of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass will solve the major traffic issues.

The roadworks due to commence on Wednesday, July 18, will see the resurfacing of the road leading into the Hospital and down past the main entry. The works will also see the road alongside the front of the Hospital and main carparks turned into two way so that cars do not have to travel around the Hospital if leaving from the carpark near the Pathology Building.

Ms Hornery said while it won't stop the major congestion, it will hopefully ease some of the significant delays motorists experience.

"The solution is that we look at alternative roads being built as well. That means expediting the completion of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass from Jesmond to Rankin Park.

"It also means looking at how we can get commuters, staff, visitors and patients in the John Hunter Hospital off the road. This could be achieved through the re-installation of the free shuttle service that used to operate very successfully from Macdonald Jones Stadium.

"If the government were fair dinkum about easing congestion they would improve public transport so commuters from around the area can get to places like the John Hunter, the Mater and the University without being forced to drive because they have no alternative," Ms Hornery said.

The road travelling west at the John Hunter Hospital campus set to be
turned into two-way driving.

Night Work Starting this Weekend on John Renshaw Drive

BY JESSICA ROUSE and DANIELLE RIES

There will be some night work starting from this Sunday (January 14) for maintenance works on John Renshaw Drive over the New England Highway.

The work by Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) is scheduled to be carried out over five night shifts between this Sunday and Thursday, January 18, depending on the weather.

"This work will involve changed traffic conditions including lane closures and a 40km/hr speed limit and Roads and Maritime Services ask motorists to follow the directions of all traffic controllers at the reduced speed limit,"

"And plan ahead and allow extra travel time as some delays might be experienced during this time," said John Matthews from the RMS.

Early work with minor traffic impacts will also continue to be carried out in preparation for the M1 Pacific Motorway Upgrade at the Weakleys Drive and John Renshaw Drive intersection at Beresfield.

For the latest traffic information head to www.livetraffic.com

Williamtown Residents Prepare For More Pain.

BY IAN CROUCH

Just when residents of Cabbage Tree Road at Williamtown were coming to grips with the RAAF Base contamination crisis and a cancer cluster, they're about to burdened with a couple of months of inconvenience.

They're discovered road work is about to start, which will see the westbound lane of the road closed from October 9 until early December.

It means some residents will be forced to take a 30 minute detour just to access their homes.

Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington says this is simply unacceptable, and does not understand why temporary traffic lights could not be used instead.

"I just don't understand why this is going to be a complete block-off of the westbound traffic, so that the families going to and from work, taking their kids to school, they're going to have a significant detour," she said.

Drivers Rejoice! Speed Limit Back to 80km/hr on Maitland Road

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Motorists are being advised that the 80km/hr speed limit is back on Maitland Road at Sandgate after months of safety works.

Roads and Maritime Services carried out maintenance work on Ironbark Creek Bridge which involved upgrading the central median and bridge barriers to ensure its safe use into the future.

There will be slight changes to traffic conditions with line marking and other work still being completed.

It's back to 80km/hr from 5am tomorrow.

Road Safety Grants

BY MICHAEL COOK and JESSICA ROUSE

The Hunter's roads could soon receive a welcome boost with applications opening shortly for the third round of the NSW Government's Community Road Safety Grants program.

Applications for this latest round of grants open on the 13th of June with community groups invited to submit their road safety projects by July 23.

Local organisations can apply for minor project funding up to $5,000 or more substantial projects of up to $30,000 with a total of $1.6 million available.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald is urging anyone who is interested to apply because who knows the roads better than those who use them on a daily basis.

"If you're on there everyday going to work and to school going to the shops, whatever you're doing, you're the person that sees where the shortfalls are and where we could do with a little bit of extra funding around that road."

"We're a pretty extensive road network so we're all busy catching up in that respect - there's a lot more traffic on the road, RMS are doing a good job of planning for the future but of course there's little projects that the community can identify and that's really what I'm looking for the community to think about," said Scot MacDonald.

Tourle Street Bridge works

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

Motorists heading over the Tourle Street Bridge from Kooragang Island will be met with changed traffic conditions while work on the bridge duplication continues.

There are diversions in place with traffic heading along Cormorant Road from Egret Street being diverted onto a newly built section of road to allow work to be carried out on the existing road.

From Monday if you're travelling along Tourle Street you'll be diverted onto a new section of road as well.

The $103 million bridge and road duplication is due for completion by late 2018.

Tocal Field Days organisers left astounded

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The annual Tocal Field Days are fast approaching, but organisers have hit a bump in the road finding out Morpeth Bridge will be closed for maitenance during the event.

Morpeth Bridge is a popular route used by many to get to Tocal during the busy event, particularly interstate visitors to the Hunter.

The bridge will be closed between the 5th & 8th May, with motorists re-directed to a route adding nearly 10 minutes to their journey.

Tocal Field Days manager Wendy Franklin is astounded she wasn't consulted by Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) about the closure.

Image tocalfielddays.com.au

"We made very strong representations that we weren't happy with them closing the bridge and they said they're not changing it. They were very adamant that it won't be changed and they weren't interested in any discussions at all," said Wendy Franklin.

RMS say there won't be a significant impact on motorists with a detour in place via Harry Boyle Bridge at Pitnacree and a sign on the highway pointing drivers to the detour.

Organisers were even more frustrated when they heard RMS moved a bridge closure which coincided with an event at Morpeth to a different date, but strangely they won't budge for Tocal.

"They told us they changed the event around to suit events that are held at Morpeth and whilst that is also important to change the time that they did it based on an event at Morpeth, and not considering such a major event with people coming from interstate, just defies logic," said Wendy Franklin.

Wendy Franklin and her fellow organisers hope in the future a consultation process can be put in place which everyone can benefit from.

Maitland median strips need attention

BY RACHEL STORER

Councillor Philip Penfold on an overgrown media strip in Maitland. Image: maitlandmercury.com.au

Median strips in Maitland are being neglected by the Roads and Maritime Service says Councillor Philip Penfold.

Residents have been making constant complaints to council about the overgrown state of the New England Highway that runs through the city.

Councillor Penfold said the RMS allocation to maintain the highway median strips is insufficient and the job should be given to the council.

"The council don't own the highway or the median strip, but I think it's time the council take that over," he said.

"We need to make sure this centrepiece of our beautiful city is enhanced and kept to a proper standard".

Cr Penfold says the state of the highway was particularly disappointing over the Easter weekend with many visitors in the city.

"I think the RMS should adequately fund [the council] so we can make sure the city is kept to the standard that the residents expect."

Morpeth Bridge is closing again, prompting fears from business owners.

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Morpeth Bridge is undergoing yet another round of restoration works which has forced its full closure from today until 6pm on Monday - much to the dismay of many local businesses.

The closure is required for the installation of temporary support structures which will allow remediation work to be undertaken.

However the weekend is often the busiest time of the week for trade and with one road into the town closed off, local business owners fear their profit will be at another loss.

Local business owner Andrew Mason says while the community are supportive of the bridge closure so it stays fully functioning into the future, businesses still have grave concerns.

"Typically the businesses reported at the last business closure a significant drop in revenue for that weekend and we have approached RMS [Roads and Maritime Services] to discuss with them how we might solve that problem for the businesses not for this closure but for the following closures which will occur in May and August this year."

Andrew says there wasn't enough communication between the RMS and local businesses regarding the closures, but hopes this will change in the future.

Local businesses have already had one win with the closure scheduled for Mother's Day weekend in May being moved to earlier in the week.

There will be two more bridge closures this year including May, and another in August.

Image courtesy of http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au

Fix the congestion, RMS: Mayor

Bob Pynsent

BY GARY-JON LYSAGHT

It’s only been a day since the opening of Frame Drive Bridge at Abermain on Wednesday, but Cessnock Council has already begun to hear complaints from residents over increased congestion on connector roads.

It’s prompted Council to call on Roads and Maritime Services to honour two-year-old conversations to improve safety on various connector roads.

“We do anticipate the return of traffic on Frame Drive Bridge will have a profound impact as it will again serve as a major connector road to and from the Hunter Expressway,” Mayor Bob Pynsent said.

“The bridge has been open barely a day and we’ve already got complaints about queuing to get through both these intersections.”

The intersection of Hart Road, Government Road and Gingers Lane has been flagged as of particular concern, with Cr Pynsent calling on RMS to do something about it.

He says a round-a-bout or traffic lights need to be installed at the intersection as well as the intersection of Hart Road and Frame Drive.

“RMS needs to follow up on the commitment they gave to assist Cessnock City Council in the safety concerns with the opening of Frame Drive Bridge,” Cr Pynsent said.

“We’ve been talking, but there hasn’t been one cent of a financial commitment at this point.”

Community anger about the increased congestion has been of particular interest to Council, with Cr Pynsent saying there were pre-emptive complaints before Wednesday’s opening.

“We had a series of complaints before we even opened Frame Drive Bridge yesterday.  The people have flagged this issue with us and that was existing before the bridge was damaged in the April storms,” he said.

“Now the bridge is opened, now is not the time to remain idle.  We are urging the NSW Government to make this a priority to ensure the safety of our road users,” Cr Pynsent said.

The Frame Drive Bridge was demolished in April 2015, after it was badly damaged during the superstorm that blew itself across the Hunter.

Significant improvement, including adding a second lane and constructing the bridge out of concrete led to assurances that the bridge would have a use life of at least 100 years.

$4.3 Million to Rebuild Stockton Boat Harbour

BY SARAH JAMES

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald, today announced work will commence early this year to design and rebuild Stockton Boat Harbour, providing the Newcastle recreational and commercial boating community with safer berthing.

The NSW Government has allocated $4.3 million to improve the safety, use and accessibility of the 50-year old harbour.
 
Rebuilding the harbour will be a two stage process led by the RMS and is estimated to take a maximum of 18 months.

The first stage which is due to start in March 2017 will involve establishing a new 25 berth swing mooring and dinghy rack facility north of the existing harbour at North Stockton.

Once complete, vessels will moved to the new swing mooring facility so the second stage of rebuilding the existing Stockton Harbour infrastructure can begin.

Investigations conducted into the safety of the existing harbour last year revealed the need for harbour to undergo construction.

Extensive consultation with the local community, commercial fishers and local boat owners also influenced the decision.

Hendrik Clasie from the RMS described the rebuild as "a long time coming" and "something we're pleased to get off the ground and finally deliver".

Uproar on the coming Singleton Bypass

BY: ARIANA GATTI

                                                [Image sourced: http://bustout.co.nz/Australia/NSW/singleton.htm] 

After a meeting on Tuesday, Singleton Council and the NSW Roads and Maritime Services collectively decided on the route and design of the new bypass through the Singleton area.

With the preferred option now out in the open, the Singleton council are working closely with the State Government to ensure the design incorporates and attends to the needs of the local area.

However, with all route options considered, residents are showing concern to the exact placement of the bypass allegedly crossing through some of their properties.

Mayor of Singleton, Sue Moore says “Council is extremely happy that a decision has been made on the route which will allow this much-needed project to progress”.

“However, there are implications for our residents as well as council in terms of our Local Environment Plan (LEP) and planning strategies”.

“Council will be looking to work with the NSW Government and RMS to ensure the design meets the needs of our community and provides opportunities for our businesses and the economy”, she says.

                

Hunter Residents Encouraged to Provide Feedback on M1 Intersection Upgrade

BY GEORGIA LUPTON

The Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) are encouraging the Hunter community to provide feedback on planned upgrades to the intersection at the end of the M1 Pacific Motorway.

The proposal sees the roundabout at the intersection of John Renshaw Drive and Weakleys Drive replaced with traffic lights to improve traffic flow and safety of motorists.

The roundabout connects the M1 Pacific Motorway, the Pacific Highway and the New England Highway with statistics suggesting around 4000 vehicles use the roundabout each hour.

The project will be funded jointly by the Federal and State Government's M1 Pacific Motorway Productivity Package.

Concept designs and an environmental assessment are on display at the RMS Regional Office on Darby Street, Newcastle or can be viewed online at rms.nsw.gov.au.

Feedback can be placed until the 7th of December 2016.

Proposed Upgrades in Beresfield. Image Courtesy: rms.nsw.gov.au

McCaffrey Drive residents bypassed

BY DECLAN PAYNE

The Roads and Maritime Services today announced the environmental impact statement (EIS) and concept design for the proposed fifth section of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass, but not all residents are satisfied.

Residents of McCaffery Drive had demanded the bypass include on and off ramps but the proposal lacks the much sought after ramps.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald said there was feedback from the community on the ramps.

"People had their say there...RMS do take on board feedback, but you can't satisfy everybody on such a major project."

The $280 million design stretches 3.4 kilometres and will link Rankin Park and Jesmond, interchanging north with Newcastle Road, south at Lookout Road, and a half interchange giving traffic access to the John Hunter Hospital.

Mr MacDonald said the public is being urged to have their say on the proposal.

"The community is invited to have a say on the EIS and the concept design which outlines key features of the project and assesses potential environmental, social and economic impacts throughout the project life cycle," MacDonald said.

"Roads and Maritime has prepared an overview booklet which summarises the assessment of key issues, design features, project benefits and how to make a submission during the EIS display."

The public can have their say at drop in sessions at Silver Ridge Community Cottage in Wallsend on Saturday 26th of November, and Thursday 1st of December.

Alternatively, submissions can be made online.

The proposed fifth section to the Newcastle Inner City Bypass. Source: rms.nsw.gov.au

Nelson Bay Road Safety Upgrade Starts Today

BY IAN CROUCH

 Motorists can expect delays along Nelson Bay Road from today.

Work is starting on safety improvements to the northbound lanes south of Marsh Road near Bobs Farm, with $800,000 being spent on new shoulders and resurfacing.

Work will be carried out between 7am and 5pm, while the resurfacing work will take pace at night.

Roads and Maritime Services says a 40 kilometre per hour speed zone will be in place, with the work expected to take about 8 weeks, weather permitting.

Baird Government Urged To Rethink Bypass

The state government is facing growing calls to amend its plans for the final stage of the Newcastle  Inner City Bypass.

Hunter New England Health has now weighed in, saying a full interchange from the Bypass to the John Hunter Hospital would be much better than the half interchange which has been proposed.

Under the current design, only vehicles coming from the north will be able to get to the hospital from the bypass - traffic from the south will still need to use the busy Lookout Road.

Proposed Interchange Photo courtesy Newcastle Herald

Night Works on Swansea Bridge

Roads and Maritime Services will be conducting roadworks from Sunday evening along the Pacific Highway, at Swansea.

The resurfacing work will be done on the southbound lanes of Swansea Bridge for three nights from January 31.

Work will be conducted between 8pm and 4.30am, with southbound traffic diverted onto the northbound brdige, via contra flow.

Weather permitting, works should be completed by February 7.

During work hours, a reduced, 40 km/h speed limit will be enforced to minimise risk for both workers and motorists.

Additional information can be found on www.livetraffic.com.  Motorists can also download the Live Traffic App for smartphones, or call the Transport Management Centre on 132 701.

Image courtesy of Matthew Fern, via Flickr (LINK).