With over two million tonnes of road freight transported around Australia every year in addition to ever increasing road passenger numbers the challenge to keep this economic corridor fit-for-purpose must be met.

During September we will progressively see key upgraded sections of the two large projects in our region on the Pacific Highway progressively open to traffic. Now is a worthwhile time to check in on progress as we close in on the completion of both the Kundabung to Kempsey and Oxley Highway to Kundabung projects respectively.

The Kundabung to Kempsey project will have upgraded 14 kilometres of highway between Barrys Creek and the South Kempsey interchange to four lanes plus construction of the new bridge at Smiths Creek. The creation of the new Barrys Creek rest area south of the Mingaletta Road and the Old Pacific Highway intersection at Ballengarra will be ready for use in weeks. However the project’s largest milestone will be when it starts to open sections to traffic later this month.

This will bring the total spend on the project to $230 million. Continuing south, the $820 million Oxley Highway to Kundabung project that constructs 37 kilometres of four lane highway, 23 bridges and three interchanges is on course for completion by the end of 2017.

Both projects commenced during the latter half of 2014 and will be delivered on time and budget thanks to the Coalition Government’s commitment in restoring the 80 per cent of Commonwealth funding when returned to government in 2013.

Finally it is worth noting that over 500 employees have been involved in construction on both projects. With so many jobs created the economic benefit of construction is spread wider and deeper into our local economy.