Problem

The Great Western Highway connects the agricultural and mining sectors in the Central West and Orana regions with Greater Sydney and the port network in New South Wales. It forms part of the National Land Transport Network.

In 2011, 8.3 million tonnes of freight was moved to and from, and through the Central West and Orana by road.

The Great Western Highway currently passes through the centre of towns such as Blackheath and Mount Victoria. This leads to congestion, safety risks from heavy vehicles mixing with residential traffic, amenity impacts for residents, and additional travel costs for freight. The current alignment also limits the extent to which High Productivity Vehicles can be used along the route.

Proposed initiative

The initiative is to complete the duplication of the Great Western Highway. Over 100 km of the highway has been duplicated so far, leaving a 33 km gap between Katoomba and Lithgow.

Next steps

Proponent to identify initiatives and develop options (Stage 2 of Infrastructure Australia’s Assessment Framework).