Roads and Maritime Services (formerly Roads and Traffic Authority) is continuing with the planning to upgrade the intersection of the Pacific Highway and Wyong Road at Tuggerah. Planning for this project is funded by the NSW Government.

Background

Wyong Road is the major road from the F3 Sydney-Newcastle Freeway to Tuggerah, Wyong and the surrounding coastal suburbs. The roundabout at the intersection of Wyong Road and the Pacific Highway currently has a high crash rate and traffic is heavily congested during peak hours.

Replacing the roundabout with traffic lights would:

• Improve safety.
• Ease traffic congestion.
• Provide capacity for future growth.

Following the display of the preferred option in June 2011, Roads and Maritime Services is now undertaking additional studies to develop the concept design and environmental assessment. Comments received from the community will be considered throughout this process.

Options considered

Several options to upgrade the intersection were considered:

• A bridge elevating Wyong Road over the intersection.
• A number of layouts involving traffic lights.

Each option was considered for traffic flow, safety benefit, property impact, disruption during construction, impact on the environment, and value for money. The favoured design has more benefits than the other options considered. The adopted design removes the existing roundabout and replaces it with traffic lights.

The options report is available to go to view or download.

Key features of the proposal include:

• Three lanes in each direction on Wyong Road.
• Dual right turn lanes from Wyong Road into Pacific Highway (to Wyong).
• Dual left turn lanes from Wyong Road into Pacific Highway (to Wyong).
• Building a new bridge beside the existing railway overbridge to accommodate new travel lanes.
• Retaining and extending the existing pedestrian underpass.

The benefits of this proposed upgrade would include:

• Improving safety for all road users.
• Increasing capacity on Wyong Road and Pacific Highway to improve traffic flow and reduce travel times and congestion during peak periods.
• Full compatibility with future development plans being considered for the area by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure and Wyong Shire Council.