Mount Victoria to Lithgow Great Western Highway Upgrade
Strategic review of a Newnes Plateau corridor
PART 1
BACKGROUND
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1
INTRODUCTION
The NSW and Australian governments, in consultation with the community, are investigating
potential corridor alignments for the section of the Great Western Highway from Mount Victoria
to Lithgow.
This study was commissioned to provide a strategic level review of a potential Newnes Plateau
corridor option and assessment against a corridor option through the previously identified
Hartley Valley study area, in order to determine the viability of a Newnes Plateau corridor.
1.1
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Australian Government has committed funding to plan for the bypass of the township of
Mount Victoria and for the bypass of River Lett Hill on the Great Western Highway between
Katoomba and Lithgow. The Australian and NSW governments, with the community, began
investigating this section of the Great Western Highway to determine the preferred alignment
for an upgrade in May 2008.
That investigation is referred to as the Mount Victoria to Lithgow Great Western Highway
Upgrade, study area investigations and identification of corridors (Mount Victoria to Lithgow
upgrade study).
It is considered that a highway upgrade would need to:
Improve road safety.
Improve freight efficiency.
Cater for the mix of through, local and tourist traffic.
Be sensitive to the area’s natural environment, heritage and local communities.
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Strategic review of a Newnes Plateau corridor
Figure 1.1
Mount Victoria to Lithgow upgrade study initial study area
Initially
the
preferred
corridor
alignment
was
expected to be identified
somewhere within the broad
study area shown in Figure
1.1. This area is referred to
as the Hartley Valley initial
study area.
The initial study area
extends from east of Mount
Victoria to west of McKanes
Falls Road on the eastern
outskirts
of
Lithgow,
generally bounded by the
existing
Great
Western
Highway to the south, and
the foothills of the valley to
the north (an overall length
of about 20 km).
Source: Great Western Highway Upgrade Mount Victoria to Lithgow
Background and Proposed Project Development Report
(SKM, June 2008) on behalf of RTA.
A series of community meetings were held in June 2008 at Hartley, Mount Victoria, Lithgow and
Hartley Vale. Information displays were held at Hartley Vale, Hartley, Lithgow, and Mount
Victoria. Approximately 600 people in total attended these forums across the different
sessions. Some community members requested the Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW (RTA)
examine the viability of an alternative highway upgrade corridor from Marrangaroo (to the west
of Lithgow) to Newnes Plateau, Bell, across the Darling Causeway to east of Mount Victoria.
This option proposed by some members of the community would greatly change the scope of
the Mount Victoria to Lithgow upgrade study compared to the initial study area. As a result the
RTA engaged Cardno to investigate the viability of a potential Newnes Plateau corridor option
through a separate yet integrated study.
As the most suitable configuration for an upgrade of the Great Western Highway between
Mount Victoria and Lithgow was likely to be either a three or a four lane cross-section, the
assessment of the Newnes Plateau corridor was to be of a similar standard.
The purpose of the investigation was to consider the viability of a potential Newnes Plateau
corridor option, considering issues such as:
Whether existing roads such as the Bells Line of Road (Chifley Road) and the Darling
Causeway can be utilised for the alternative corridor.
What are the constraints along the above corridors and through the Newnes Plateau area
that need to be considered for the selection of a corridor option?
What community information was available that needs to be considered?
Cost of constructing a potential Newnes Plateau corridor option.
What safety works would still be required on the existing highway?
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How much traffic would use a potential Newnes Plateau corridor option compared to the
base case and the mix of traffic that would use this corridor?
A strategic comparison of a Newnes Plateau corridor option to a base case corridor option
within the initial study area (Hartley Valley) with similar road configurations.
The consideration of constraints to the development of a corridor considered the constraints in
the Newnes Plateau area and in the Hartley Valley initial study area equally. The constraints
assessment (Part 2) considered a wide range of quantitative and qualitative issues including:
1.2
Physical environment.
Ecological environmental.
Heritage environment (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal).
Social environment.
Land use and planning environment.
Existing infrastructure environment.
BACKGROUND
The Great Western Highway provides the main road link across the Blue Mountains between
Sydney and the Central West of New South Wales. The Bells Line of Road provides a
supplementary route across the Blue Mountains. However, it is constrained with a narrow and
winding alignment for the most part. These roads provide the only crossing of the Great
Dividing Range between Denman (Golden Highway) in the north and Goulburn (Hume Highway)
in the south.
The Great Western Highway and Bells Line of Road cater for general, tourist and freight traffic
to and from the Central West. They also provide the link from the major agricultural areas in
western New South Wales to the major markets in Sydney and export points at Port Botany,
Port Kembla and Newcastle. However, both existing routes are constrained by the fact that
neither is an approved route for 26 metre B-Doubles (19 metre B-Doubles are permitted).
A number of studies have been carried out previously on the corridor across the Blue
Mountains, investigating upgrades of the Great Western Highway and Bells Line of Road. In
addition the RTA has carried out significant works on the Great Western Highway in recent
years, including upgrading of the road to provide a four lane divided carriageway with grade
separation at Leura and realignment of the road to remove sub-standard curves. These works
have greatly improved traffic conditions on the highway. However, the section of the Great
Western Highway between Mount Victoria and Lithgow is a constraint on the operation of this
major western link. A preliminary background study, Great Western Highway Upgrade Mount
Victoria to Lithgow Background and Proposed Project Development Report (SKM, June 2008),
carried out for the RTA on this section of road highlights the low travel speeds for heavy
vehicles and higher than average crash rates along the road.
The current alignment of the Great Western Highway from Mount Victoria to Lithgow is
characterised by the steep grades of Victoria Pass and either side of the River Lett crossing at
Hartley. These typically result in low travel speeds up and down the hills with heavy vehicles
being restricted on the downgrades through speed limits and low gear restrictions and the
length of the grades when travelling up Mount Victoria (eastbound) and the River Lett Hill
(westbound). The importance of these routes as freight routes is evidenced through the
percentage of heavy vehicles of the total traffic volumes, 15—22 per cent along the Great
Western Highway and 11—12 per cent along the Bells Line of Road (Part 4). Furthermore, heavy
vehicle checking stations are located at Mount Boyce (near Blackheath) on the Great Western
Highway and Bell on the Bells Line of Road.
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The development of a more suitable route with reduced grades and higher speed limits for the
primary road and freight access between the Sydney Region and the Central West would
provide improved travel times, reduced running and fuel costs and improve road safety on this
key link.
The preliminary community consultation phase of the Mount Victoria to Lithgow upgrade study
included community meetings and displays in June 2008. Feedback from these consultations
included requests for the viability of an alternative corridor that may be generally described as
the western precinct section identified in the Bells Line of Road corridor study (SKM 2004) to
be examined. Under this option proposed by some members of the community, the western
precinct section would need to be extended to take it generally across the Darling Causeway to
Mount Victoria and beyond to the end of the Soldiers Pinch project at about the Browntown
Oval intersection.
The RTA made a commitment to the community to undertake an assessment of a proposed
alternative corridor from Mount Victoria, across the Newnes Plateau to the east and north of
Lithgow, in order to be able to provide a comparison with a corridor through the previously
identified Hartley Valley initial study area to assist in the determination of a preferred
corridor. It was considered that a four lane divided motorway scenario (as in SKM 2004) is
unlikely to be economically justified, so consideration of highway standard configurations was
to be undertaken.
The section of the potential Newnes Plateau corridor west of Bell was originally considered as
part of the Bells Line of Road corridor study (RTA/SKM 2004) and is now to be considered as a
potential link between the Great Western Highway from east of Mount Victoria to south of the
intersection of the Great Western Highway and Castlereagh Highway to the west of Lithgow at
Marrangaroo.
The area under consideration for this study has been described as the ’Newnes Plateau
corridor’, commencing at Marrangaroo to the west of Lithgow, and heading across Newnes
Plateau to Newnes Junction, then to Bell, and across the Darling Causeway diverting to the
east of Mount Victoria to the western end of Soldiers Pinch.
This potential Newnes Plateau corridor was assumed to require intersections with:
The Great Western Highway to the east of Mount Victoria.
The Darling Causeway to the north of Mount Victoria.
Bells Line of Road at Bell.
Chifley Road (MR 516) at Newnes Junction.
The Great Western Highway to the east of the Great Western Highway/Castlereagh
Highway interchange at Marrangaroo.
The study seeks to undertake an assessment of the impacts and viability of a potential Newnes
Plateau corridor option when compared to an equivalent Mount Victoria to Lithgow base case
corridor option. This assessment considers the impacts of a corridor option on key constraints,
including non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal Heritage and the natural environment as well as the
overall grades along the corridor. This investigation of the economic feasibility of the Newnes
Plateau corridor has considered the future costs of maintaining the existing Great Western
Highway to a suitable standard for access to the Oberon/Jenolan Caves district for freight and
light vehicle movements to service the industries and tourist attractions in those areas.
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1.3
STUDY AREA
The study area boundaries are relatively broad and differ somewhat for the various tasks
undertaken as the study moved through its various phases. The study region is generally
located on the traditional lands of the Darug, Gundungurra, Wiradjuri and Ngarigo nations.
Lithgow is situated 140 km west of Sydney, on the western edge of the Blue Mountains as
shown on Figure 1.2.
Figure 1.2
Locality map
The study region is depicted in Figure 1.3 and includes the communities of Bell, Clarence,
Dargan, Lithgow, Hartley, Hartley Vale, Little Hartley, Marrangaroo and Mount Victoria. Figure
1.3 shows the steep terrain throughout much of the study area and highlights State Forests,
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Reserves, water bodies, built up areas, railway
stations, railway lines and main roads. The overall study area is generally bounded by:
Great Western Highway to the south and west.
Darling Causeway to the east.
Chifley Road and the Newnes State Forest in the north.
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Figure 1.3
Study region
Legend
Figure 1.4 shows the range of elevations throughout the study area.
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Figure 1.4
Elevation model
Legend
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1.3.1
Constraints mapping area
Detailed constraints mapping was undertaken for the Newnes Plateau corridor area and the
Mount Victoria to Lithgow area as depicted in Figure 1.5. Whilst much of the constraints
mapping extended beyond the areas shown (Section 10), the focus was on the areas of interest
shown in Figure 1.5.
Figure 1.5
Constraints mapping areas
Legend
Mount Victoria to Lithgow Great Western Highway Upgrade, study area
investigations and identification of corridors study area
Newnes Plateau corridor area of interest
Mount Victoria to Lithgow base case corridor area of interest
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1.3.2
Transport planning area
An evaluation of the transport situation along key existing routes has been undertaken for the
study area. The existing routes considered include:
Great Western Highway (GWH):
—
Soldiers Pinch to Mount Victoria (Station Street).
—
Mount Victoria (Station Street) to Jenolan Caves Road.
—
Jenolan Caves Road to McKanes Falls Road.
—
McKanes Falls Road to Lithgow turn off (Main Street).
—
Lithgow turn off (Main Street) to Marrangaroo (Castlereagh Highway).
Station Street/Darling Causeway:
—
Mount Victoria (Great Western Highway) to Bell (Chifley Road).
Chifley Road/Mort Street/Main Street (Bells Line of Road):
—
Bell (Darling Causeway/Bells Line of Road) to Newnes Junction.
—
Newnes Junction to Lithgow.
—
Lithgow to Great Western Highway.
Two general potential corridors have been considered in the future transport assessment.
These proposed corridors include:
1.4
Mount Victoria to Lithgow base case corridor:
—
Mount Victoria (Great Western Highway) to west of Forty Bends.
Newnes Plateau corridor, Mount Victoria to Marrangaroo via:
—
Soldiers Pinch to north of Mount Victoria.
—
Darling Causeway north of Mount Victoria to Bell.
—
Bell to Newnes Junction.
—
Newnes Junction to Marrangaroo.
REPORT STRUCTURE
This report is structured in five parts.
Part 1, Background, provides the strategic context for the study and highlights the need for
the upgrade and the purpose of the study. This part defines the background work relevant to
the study and the methodology undertaken for the investigation. A summary of the
consultation undertaken as part of the study is provided and an overview of the proposed
corridor option is presented.
The second Part of the document, Environmental constraints, provides an overview of the
environmental constraints mapping work undertaken. The environmental constraints were a
key element in identifying a preliminary corridor option for both the Newnes Plateau corridor
and for the Mount Victoria to Lithgow base case for comparative purposes. Grid mapping and
weighting of constraints were part of the preliminary corridor option identification.
Part 3 of this document, Engineering design and costs, outlines one potential strategic design
option for both corridor options (Newnes Plateau corridor and Mount Victoria to Lithgow base
case) corridor). In order to undertake a comparative analysis of the two corridors, costs had to
be developed for each corridor option. A strategic engineering design of potential routes that
fit within the corridors was undertaken for the purposes of checking feasibility and determining
cost estimates. The design constraints and key issues considered in developing strategic road
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designs are documented in this part. Finally, cost estimates were developed for each corridor
option given the same set of cost assumptions.
A Transport planning assessment is contained within Part 4 of this document. This section
documents the existing transport context in terms of route characteristics such as road
inventories, crash statistics, traffic flows and composition. The transport characteristics such
as travel times and travel demand patterns were established for the existing study area. This
section also details the transport modelling exercise undertaken to develop a predictive
transport model for use in estimating future traffic flows on varying potential road networks.
Finally, the predicted traffic volumes on each corridor option is estimated and compared.
The final Conclusion section (Part 5) of this report provides the justification for recommending
further investigation of the Newnes Plateau corridor option.
Key issues for further
investigation and consideration have been highlighted and concluding statements are drawn.
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2
STRATEGIC CONTEXT
2.1
HISTORY OF THE ROUTE1
The history of the Great Western Highway stretches back to the first crossing of the Blue
Mountains by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth in 1813. In the following year, William Cox
began constructing a rudimentary road across the mountains which was opened in April 1815.
The initial descent of the Blue Mountains was made from Mount York (the present day Coxs
Road), with grades as steep as one in four. From the foot of Mount York, the early track then
proceeded west to Bathurst via the Fish River plains rather than Lithgow.
Soon after construction, dissatisfaction was expressed with Coxs Road. The descent of Mount
York was reportedly terrifying. Logs had to be tied behind carts to steady them down the steep
grade. Cox made the observation, when building the road, that sheep would have to carry the
wool on their backs up the pass and be shorn in the mountains because the road was too steep
for a cart with any sort of load to traverse it. For this reason a deviation (Lockyer’s Road) came
into frequent use in 1827 and carried most of the traffic to/from the west until the opening of
Victoria Pass.
The issue of the routing of the Great Western Highway between Mount Victoria and Bathurst
first came to the fore in 1829 when Hamilton Hume discovered a new line down the mountain
via what is now the Darling Causeway. A landslide during construction and opposition from
Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchell, who favoured a more direct route to Bathurst, resulted in
the abandonment of the Darling Causeway route and the construction of Victoria Pass. The
Pass, opened in 1832, traverses a narrow ridge from which valleys fell away on either side,
requiring massive amounts of earth and rock filling, supported by large stone buttressed walls,
to provide a satisfactory grade. The centrepiece is a large sandstone causeway which, due to
its heritage significance, is a major impediment to widening to this day.
The first route of the Highway left the current route at Old Bowenfels, proceeding west via
Rydal to rejoin the current route near Mount Lambie. Initially forming part of the main road to
Mudgee, the road through Bowenfels and Marrangaroo became part of the Great Western
Highway in the late 1920s in conjunction with the construction of a new road from Tunnel Hill
to Wallerawang and Mount Lambie. Also included in this work was the construction of the rail
subway on Cooerwull Road to eliminate the Bowenfels level crossing.
Subsequent improvements on this section have seen the progressive development of a dual
carriageway, four lane road from the 1970s through to 2003, including a 2.5 km deviation at
Farmers Creek.
1
Generally sourced from Ozroads (http://www.ozroads.com.au/NSW/Highways/GtWestern/history.htm)
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2.2
EXISTING ROLE
The Great Western Highway, as the name suggests, is the dominant crossing of the Blue
Mountains and the major route from Sydney to the west of the state. In addition to its role as a
trunk freight and commuter corridor, it also fulfils a number of other roles, including:
Access to properties along the route.
Local access for settlements along the route.
Recreation and tourism access, particularly to Jenolan Caves.
Photograph 2.1
Mitchell’s Causeway on Victoria Pass – late 1800s
Source: Mitchell Library
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Photograph 2.2
Bowenfels rail subway on Cooerwull Road (formerly Great Western
Highway)
Source: Photograph Courtesy of Sam Laybutt
2.3
STRATEGIC OVERVIEW
The investigation of a form of the Newnes Plateau corridor was initially undertaken as part of
the Bells Line of Road corridor study carried out for the NSW and Australian governments by
Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) in 2004, as part of the assessment for a high standard freight route
across the Blue Mountains. The preferred corridor through the western precinct of the study
area for the Bells Line of Road corridor study is shown in Figure 2.1.
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Figure 2.1
Bells Line of Road corridor study preferred option
Source: Bells Line of Road corridor summary report (SKM, November 2005) on behalf of RTA.
The preferred option through the western precinct of the Bells Line of Road corridor study
area was for a high standard 100–110 km/h design speed northern Lithgow bypass route with
four lanes and a gradient generally less than seven per cent. This corridor was a new road
between Marrangaroo and Bell and was proposed to be suitable for all vehicles including full
length B-Doubles along the corridor.
This 28 km option between Marrangaroo and Bell had less steep grades than other options and
had only minor creek crossings and was considered to integrate more effectively with any
proposals for an airport at Newnes Plateau.
A number of previous studies for improvements to the route across the mountains had
concentrated on the development of the Great Western Highway including the Central West
transport study (SMEC 1996), Penrith to Orange transport corridor study (SKM 1998) and Action
for Transport 2010 (NSW Govt. 1998). The Bells Line of Road corridor study concluded that the
development of a four lane high standard route in the Bells Line of Road corridor was
economically unviable.
Building on the work undertaken in the Bells Line of Road corridor study and the current work
being undertaken for the Central West transport needs study the RTA is looking to identify an
upgraded route for the Great Western Highway between Mount Victoria and Lithgow. The
determination of the preferred route for the upgrading of the Great Western Highway will be
the first step in providing a higher quality connection between the Central West of New South
Wales and Sydney.
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The community consultation for the initial phase of the project identified that some members
of the community wished the RTA to consider the route previously identified for the western
precinct in the Bells Line of Road corridor study.
In responding to the community the RTA undertook to carry out this investigation on the
Newnes Plateau corridor from Marrangaroo (to the west of Lithgow) to Newnes Plateau, Bell,
and across the Darling Causeway to east of Mount Victoria in order to provide a comprehensive
response to the community.
2.4
NEED FOR AN UPGRADE
A media release regarding the upgrade of the Great Western Highway on behalf of Mr Martin
Ferguson AM MP, Shadow Minister for Transport, Roads and Tourism and The Hon Bob Debus,
Federal Labour Candidate for Macquarie was made public on Wednesday 3 October 2007.
The October 2007 media release announced that the Federal Government “will provide up to
$200 million to start the bypass of Mount Victoria and River Lett Hill on the Great Western
Highway between Katoomba and Lithgow.” With the bypass being intended to improve access
to Sydney and beyond by reducing travel times between Mount Victoria and Lithgow and
reducing crashes along the existing Highway.
There are three key areas of importance in relation to the need for an upgrade of the existing
highway - safety, freight movement and strategic planning. These are discussed in more detail
in the following sections.
2.4.1
Safety
A review of crashes along the 18.4 km section of the Great Western Highway extending from
the road to Browntown Oval (just east of Mount Victoria) to McKanes Falls Rd (just east of
Lithgow) was undertaken by the RTA in 2008. The road environment was noted to be difficult,
in particular with regard to the steep grades and tight radius curves. Between 2003 and 2007
there were 156 crashes, including eight fatal crashes and 74 injury crashes.
The current crash rate along this section of the existing highway is 53 percent higher than
comparable rural roads in NSW. Three areas that are considered to be crash clusters were
identified along this section of the Great Western Highway:
Top curve at Mount Victoria.
Bottom curve at Mount Victoria.
River Lett Hill.
The crash rate along the highway between Mount Victoria and Lithgow is anticipated to
increase as a result of increasing urbanisation along the route, particularly within the Hartley
Valley area if there is no improvement to the safety performance of the route.
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2.4.2
Freight
The October 2007 media release highlighted that the AusLink corridor strategy for Sydney to
Dubbo identified Victoria Pass and River Lett Hill as key deficiencies on the existing Great
Western Highway alignment, particularly for freight transport. These sections of the highway
are particularly steep with tight curves and severe grades reaching up to 13 percent, limiting
the operation of heavy freight vehicles, especially high-productivity freight vehicles, between
Sydney and the Central West of NSW. The vertical grade at Mount Victoria (approximately 13.3
percent) is the steepest section of any recognised freight route in NSW. The severe grades and
alignment of the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass and River Lett Hill also impose high
road user costs (AusLink, 2007).
The Great Western Highway provides the major road freight, tourist and commercial link
between Sydney and Central Western NSW. This role is supplemented by the Bells Line of Road;
although both routes have major limitations to their use as significant transport corridors
across the Blue Mountains. Both routes are limited by the steep grades, tight curves and
insufficient overtaking opportunities, making them unsuitable as efficient freight routes. This is
highlighted with neither route being approved for the operation of 26 metre B-Doubles (19
metre B-Doubles can operate).
In the opinion of the Regional Organisation of Councils representing Central NSW (CENTROC)
and communities west of the Great Dividing Range, the absence of an effective freight route
provides a constraint to regional development west of the Blue Mountains. Some stakeholders
in NSW’s Central West are of the opinion that the freight access to the Sydney area from the
north and south represents inequitable access to regional markets.
In 2008 the average weekday daily traffic volumes along the Great Western Highway between
Soldiers Pinch and Lithgow range from 6,700 to 10,200 vehicles a day (Part 4). Annual average
daily traffic (2005) volumes are as high as 12,300 along the route. Growth rates along the route
over the last nine years (1996) increased around the township of Mount Victoria (1.0 per cent
up to 1.7 per cent per annum) and Lithgow (1.5 per cent per annum). However, in-between
these locations volumes have generally declined.
Heavy vehicles made up about 18 to 22 per cent of the 2008 average weekday traffic volumes
on the corridor (Part 4). The October 2007 media release stated that half the freight
transported between the Central West and Sydney uses this road. Three-quarters of freight
transported from the Central West is coal, grain and minerals.
2.4.3
Strategic planning
The transport options across the Blue Mountains in the study area are limited to the existing
Great Western Highway, the Bells Line of Road and the Main Western Railway Line. The existing
road routes are limited due to very steep grades, tight curves and limited overtaking
opportunities. Rail capacity and use is constrained by freight and passenger rail having to share
the same track. There are limited opportunities for substantially increasing the amount of
freight able to be transported across the Blue Mountains by rail.
The population of the Sydney metropolitan area continues to grow, along with the major
townships and agricultural activity of the Central West of NSW, indicating that traffic volumes
along the Great Western Highway are expected to increase. In addition, improved transport
access across the Blue Mountains would facilitate growth in the Central West region. An
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upgrade of the Great Western Highway between Mount Victoria and Lithgow is necessary to
cope with the expected traffic growth in the area.
Work has already been done to upgrade the Great Western Highway between Emu Plains and
Mount Victoria. These upgrades have enhanced the highway’s ability to absorb future growth,
however, the route will remain an inefficient mountain crossing without upgrading the section
of the highway between Mount Victoria and Lithgow.
2.5
STUDY OBJECTIVES
The strategic review of the Newnes Plateau corridor project undertaken has been extensive
and three sequential key study objectives were established to guide the process:
A.
B.
C.
Undertake a review of the inputs and constraints to enable selection of a potential
corridor alignment option within the Newnes Plateau area and the Mount Victoria to
Lithgow base case area.
Test corridor options to assess the impact of various design and analysis parameters.
Undertake a full engineering, environmental and economic assessment of the Newnes
Plateau corridor option against the base case corridor.
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