Upgrade of Pacific Highway at Glenugie just south of Grafton has entered the home straight

Joint Media Statement

Federal Minister for Infrastructure & Transport Anthony Albanese

and

NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay

MAJOR UPGRADE WORK AT GLENUGIE COMPLETE

The upgrade of Pacific Highway at Glenugie just south of Grafton has entered the home straight with major works now completed and motorists set to be driving on the newly duplicated stretch of road by the end of the month.

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese today joined Page MP Janelle Saffin onsite to see firsthand the finishing touches being applied and to thank the local community for their patience over the past 20 months while the work was being carried out.

“I also congratulated the project team on a job well.  Their expertise and hard work has brought the project in on-time and within budget, delivering safer, faster and less frustrating driving conditions along a further 7 kilometres of highway,” said Mr Albanese.

“The completion of the entire upgrade will be yet another major milestone in the ongoing upgrade of this vital road.  However, I am the first to acknowledge that there is still much to be done if the vision of a better, safer and fully duplicated Pacific Highway is to become a reality.”

The Glenguie Upgrade is a jointly funded project, with the Federal Government contributing $54 million and NSW Government a further $6 million.  The project is on track to be fully completed by December, with only some minor work still outstanding.

NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay said as well as delivering better, safer driving conditions, the ongoing duplication is also lifting the Pacific Highway’s capacity to carry the growing volumes of freight now being transported along it.

“This task has been given even greater urgency by the fact that interstate freight between Sydney and Brisbane is predicted to almost triple by 2029, with 80 per cent of this growth destine to be carried by trucks using the Pacific Highway,” said Mr Gay.

“In partnership with the Federal Government, we’re determined to get the job done as quickly as possible.  Already the full duplication of the Highway is the largest road construction project underway anywhere in the nation, with more than 1,000 workers currently on site upgrading some 69 kilometres of road.”

[From the Office of Janelle Saffin MP, 25 October 2011]