Take the Pacific Highway, they said – it is smooth sailing, they said!
Last year the Pacific Highway was hard work with all the traffic and roadworks. We were assured that all this was much smoother now, so choose this route as our way home from Victoria last month.
There has been some amazing progress – although we hit some road works just north of Sydney, we could see the progress all along – and noticed the bypasses at Buladelah and Macksville. However there was still plenty of stopping in northern NSW.
The thing that had our jaws dropping as we approached the Clarence River at Harwood, near Maclean was the whopping new bridge!
The Clarence River is the widest river on the eastern seaboard, so it is not surprising that construction of the bridge here is a huge project:
- 1.52 km long
- 620m over the length of the river
- 30 m downstream from the current bridge
- clearance of 30 m plus from boats below
- dual carriageway bridge, with two lanes in each direction.
- There will be local road works at the northern and southern abutments.
The project is part of the larger AU $4.36 billion Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway upgrade and is jointly funded by the state and federal governments.
However, the Woolgoolga to Ballina upgrade is progressing with sections opening, Glenugie to Ballina sections should open late 2019, and remaining sections next year.
Camps Australia Wide will continue to audit rest areas along the route and increase listings of private and community overnight stops near the Highway. But if you’re traveling this way and notice any changes – please let us know.
Sourced from: https://www.acciona.com.au/projects/construction/roads-bridges-and-special-structures/bridge-over-clarence-river-at-harwood/
https://www.pacifichighway.nsw.gov.au/project-sections/coffs-harbour-to-ballina/woolgoolga-to-ballina/glenugie-to-maclean
