Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran

The New South Wales Government is providing $11.5 million for planning of an upgrade of the Newell Highway at Coonabarabran. This work is part of the $500 million Newell Highway upgrade program.

Latest news

FEB 2021

FEB 2021Review of Environmental Factors

The Review of Environmental Factors (REF) for the Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran was on display from 30 November 2020 to 29 January 2021.

More information

Transport for NSW is now preparing a Submissions Report and Community Consultation Report.

We will keep the community updated as the project progresses.

DEC 2020

DEC 2020Coonabarabran Bypass information session

Project information

Environmental studies

Last year the NSW Government announced option three, a bypass to the east of town, as the preferred route to provide motorists with a future safe and efficient bypass of the Newell Highway at Coonabarabran. We are now gathering information and completing further studies to form part of the Review of Environmental Factors (REF).

The bypass would involve building a new eight kilometre long Newell Highway bypass, three kilometres to the east of town. It would start near the 100 km/h zone heading into Coonabarabran from the south and rejoin the existing highway near the current Oxley and Newell Highway intersection.

Transport for NSW will continue to engage with the community and stakeholders throughout the planning of the Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran. We will continue with investigation studies to further develop the concept design and Review of Environmental Factors which is anticipated to be displayed to the community later this year.

Project background

The NSW Government is committed to improving connectivity and safety for all road users including freight vehicles along the Newell Highway. Roads and Maritime Services ise in the planning phase of developing a Coonabarabran Bypass that will reduce travel time and increase safety of road users and pedestrians. The project will remove trucks from local streets and reduce noise and air pollution in town.

Project objective

Upgrade the Newell Highway to support more efficient movement of freight by improving heavy vehicle access for PBS3 (a) high productivity vehicles (36.5 metre B-Triples and Type 2 Road Trains) (see Heavy vehicle classifications for more information)

Project features

Construction of a Bypass
New bridge over the Castlereagh River
Newell Highway and Oxley High intersection upgrade to give priority to the Newell.

Project benefits

Reduce travel time
Remove around 700 heavy vehicles from the town centre, the majority of which are B-doubles
Improve motorist and pedestrian safety
Improve traffic flow in Coonabarabran, particularly east-west travel
Improve the amenity of the retail district for shoppers, residents and workers
Reduce heavy vehicle noise and stock-created odour
Remove conflicts between local traffic and heavy through vehicles

Coonabarabran preferred options map

Project documents

Community updates

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File	Title	Size
	November 2020 community update Review of Environmental Factors and Concept Display	10.8Mb
	October 2019 community update Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran preferred option	243Kb
	May 2019 community update Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran	7.66Mb

Review of Environmental Factors (REF)

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File	Title	Size
	Main Report plus Appendices A and B	24.4Mb
	Appendix C - Biodiversity Assessment Report	160Mb
	Appendix D - Noise and Vibration Assessment Report	25.96Mb
	Appendix E - Landscape Character, Visual Impact Assessment and Urban Design Report	96.7Mb
	Appendix F - Socio-Economic Assessment Report	19.1Mb
	Appendix G - Traffic and Transport Assessment Report	3.2Mb
	Appendix H - Hydrology and Flooding Assessment Report	1.11Mb
	Appendix I - Surface and Groundwater Assessment Report	27.9Mb
	Appendix J - Aboriginal and Historic Heritage Assessment Report	8.56Mb
	Appendix K - Preliminary Site Investigation	53.3Mb

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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File	Title	Size
	November 2020 Frequently asked questions Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran	116Kb
	February 2020 Frequently asked questions Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran - Business and shopper surveys	50.1Kb
	October 2019 Frequently asked questions Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran - Coonabarabran Bypass.	154Kb
	May 2019 frequently asked questions Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran - Display of three corridor options.	130Kb

Reports

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File	Title	Size
	Community consultation summary report September 2019	2.24Mb
	Preferred option report September 2019	8.93Mb

Media releases

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File	Title	Size
	3 December 2020 Coonabarabran Bypass a step closer	23.98Kb

Contact us

For more information about this project, please contact:

Phone: 1800 741 636

Email: newell.upgrade@transport.nsw.gov.au

Mail: Newell Highway upgrade at Coonabarabran REF, PO Box 36, Dubbo NSW 2830