FRESH state and federal funding will be used to tackle new spots along the troubled Bells Line of Road - but it will mean more lane closures for those travelling the route between the Bathurst region and Sydney.
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The Albanese and Minns governments say a "major effort to improve road safety" will begin with remediation work at Mount Tomah from Monday, February 26 and will be followed by work on two slope failures at Kurrajong Heights in March.
Funding is being provided through the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
The new work announced is separate to the slope remediation work at Mount Tomah that started in late May last year and which has now been completed, according to the NSW Government.
It all comes after Bells Line was closed for weeks on end in March and April 2021 due to landslips caused by heavy rain.
In terms of the new work, Transport for NSW says the infrastructure company Ventia will be repairing five slopes along Bells Line at Mount Tomah, ranging from 50 to 250 metres in length, where trees and other vegetation have grown into cracks and joints in the road cuttings and caused slopes to become unstable.
Trees and other vegetation have also grown into cracks and joints in the road cuttings at two slopes at Kurrajong Heights, ranging from 215 to 300 metres in length, Transport for NSW says.
The remediation work will include rock bolting, shotcreting (a method of applying concrete) and installing steel mesh.
In announcing the new funding and work, federal Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt said "some slopes along the corridor were damaged by torrential rainfall between 2021 and 2022 that wrought havoc on the road network".
"These works are about helping to improve the public road network and other critical assets so communities aren't impacted as severely when more frequent weather events strike," he said.
NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison - who was in Bathurst in December for the opening of the widened Great Western Highway - said Bells Line is an important transport link for the Central West, among other communities.
"We have completed emergency work at three locations around the Botanic Gardens at Mount Tomah, while work to remediate a fourth site just west of the gardens should take place later this year," she said.
"Stabilisation work is also well under way to the slope failure on the Great Western Highway near Fairy Bower Road in Mount Victoria.
"This latest work kicking off will further remediate separate slopes at Mount Tomah and Kurrajong Heights - and with work beginning to address another slope failure at Victoria Pass in mid-2024, we are really improving safety at multiple locations and enhancing the overall resilience of the corridors."
Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman said "this disaster recovery funding is on top of the $100 million that we have provided to NSW for additional upgrades to Bells Line of Road".
That $100 million, announced in January 2023, is set to provide safety upgrades including overtaking lanes and road widening.
Open and closed
THE joint release about the work on Bells Line says there will be "three separate lane closures" along the road for much of 2024 due to the work.
Most remediation work will take place between 7am and 6pm Monday to Friday and, less frequently, on Saturday mornings.
No work will take place on Sundays or public holidays, unless otherwise communicated.
Portable boom gates will be used while work takes place to close lanes and vehicles will be diverted into a single-lane with stop/start traffic control.
A reduced speed limit of 40 kilometres an hour will be in place.
