The Hunter Expressway has a long planning history and is now in the construction stage of the project. The Australian Government is funding $1.5 billion and the NSW Government up to $200 million to complete the project.

This $1.7 billion project involves the construction of a four lane freeway link between the F3 Freeway near Seahampton and the New England Highway, west of Branxton. The new expressway will provide a new eastwest connection between Newcastle and the Lower Hunter and is one of the biggest road infrastructure projects to be built in the Hunter.

The Hunter Expressway received planning approval in 2001. The conditions of approval required Roads and Maritime Services (replacing Roads and Traffic Authority) to reduce its ecological impact. To meet these conditions, Roads and Maritime Services modified the design to reduce clearing of native vegetation, including endangered ecological communities.

The modifications includes three key changes to the Hunter Expressway's design:

• Realignment through the Sugarloaf Range and construction of three large bridges over deep gullies.
• Closure of Stanford Road, Stanford Merthyr, on both sides of the Hunter Expressway.
• Construction of a new interchange at Branxton to divert traffic onto the Hunter Expressway that otherwise would have travelled through Branxton on the New England Highway.

On 19 August 2007, the NSW Minister for Planning approved the modifications to the Hunter Expressway.

Features

• 40 kilometres of dual carriageway freeway;
• 53 bridges at 21 sites, including 840 metres of high bridges through the Sugarloaf range;
• Six grade separated interchanges located at the F3, Buchanan, Kurri Kurri, Loxford, Allandale and Branxton;
• A one kilometre reconstruction of South Maitland railway, including a new railway bridge.

Benefits

• Cut travel times between Newcastle and the Hunter by an estimated 28 minutes.
• Improve the efficiency of the national network.
• Provide a more direct and efficient route for freight movements between the Upper Hunter and the Port of Newcastle.
• Reduce the number of heavy vehicles travelling on the New England Highway through towns such as Branxton and Maitland.
• Relieve congestion on the New England Highway between Weakleys Drive and Branxton.
• Potentially reduce between 15,000 and 30,000 vehicles per day on the New England Highway, according to projected traffic levels in 2031 noted in The Lower Hunter Transport Needs Study.
• Support the growing Hunter region.
• Meet the growing freight task of the region.