Hunter Expressway
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Hunter Expressway New South Wales |
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| View westbound after the Newcastle Interchange | |
 ESE end
WNW end
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| Coordinates | |
| Type | Freeway |
| Length | 39.5 km (25 mi) |
| Built by |
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| Route number(s) |
 M15 |
| ESE end | |
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| WNW end | |
| Region | Hunter |
| LGA(s) | |
| Major suburbs / towns | |
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Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in New South Wales |
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John Renshaw Drive
Wine Country DriveThe Hunter Expressway is a 39.5-kilometre (24.5 mi) long dual carriageway freeway in New South Wales, Australia. It was previously known as the F3 to Branxton link or Kurri Kurri Corridor during the planning stage. It has two lanes in each direction, running generally north west from the Pacific Motorway at the Newcastle Link Road interchange to the eastern end of the Belford Bends Deviation on the New England Highway north of Branxton. The road allows traffic to bypass the Maitland area, Lochinvar, Greta and Branxton. The expressway opened on 22 March 2014.
The link road was originally proposed in 1988 and was known as the Kurri Kurri Corridor. While the road design approved in 2001 was for a speed limit of 100 km/h (60 mph), the Roads & Traffic Authority applied in March 2007 to make several changes, including revising the design for a speed limit of 110 km/h (70 mph). The New South Wales Department of Planning approved those changes on 19 August 2007.
The Roads & Traffic Authority obtained approval in July 2006 to allow the construction of the road to be staged. This did not mean that the road would be opened in stages but that preparatory work including relocation of high voltage power lines, gas mains, telecommunication cabling, water and sewer mains and the South Maitland Railway line could be carried out prior to commencing construction of the road. This was done because the relocation of services during road construction may have caused unpredictable delays.
The construction of a new bridge to carry the South Maitland railway line over the new road was put out to tender in 2007. However, despite the tender closing date being put back four times, the tender was not awarded.
At the time, it was anticipated that the $253 million pre-construction work would be completed in mid 2008 and construction of the road would commence immediately after the pre-construction was completed.
Prior to the 2007 Australian federal election, the then coalition government pledged to fund the construction of the road as part of the Auslink II funding plan and the then opposition pledged to match the government funding commitment. On the Sunday immediately after the election, the federal member for Hunter and member of the incoming Labor government, Joel Fitzgibbon, announced in an interview that he "was no longer convinced that it was the best option for the area and wanted a new independent assessment of the project." A $1 million study, titled the "Lower Hunter Transport Needs Study" was "commissioned in part to cost the bypass".
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Wikipedia