Pacific Highway upgrade

This section is open to traffic. 

Woolgoolga to Ballina is the final link in the Pacific Highway, between Hexham and the Queensland border, to be upgraded to four lanes. Upgrading the Pacific Highway and carrying out safety improvements to the existing highway have brought major improvements to road conditions. These improvements support freight productivity and regional development and provide:

• safer travel
• reduced travel times with improved transport efficiency
• more consistent and reliable travel
• improved amenity for local communities.

The project includes upgrading the highway to motorway (Class M) or arterial (Class A) standard over its 155 kilometre length, nine interchanges, more than 170 bridges and more than 350 connectivity structures. It has bypassed South Grafton, Ulmarra, Woodburn, Broadwater and Wardell.

You can access a range of documents including achievement and monitoring fact sheets, maps, community meetings and updates through the Pacific Highway upgrade document library.

This section is open to traffic. 

A number of towns have been bypassed as part of the Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour upgrade. Bypassing towns reduces travelling pinch points by diverting the major highway around a town, and takes the flow of 'through' traffic away from the town. Some of the town bypasses for this highway upgrade include Kempsey, Macksville and Urunga.

The benefits for these towns has been:

• removing traffic congestion
• reducing noise and vibration 
• improving road safety
• making the town centre more attractive to visitors.

Since opening to traffic this highway upgrade has improved connectivity between coastal towns and regional centres. There has been improved travel efficiency with reduced travel times between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour estimated to be saving more than 30 minutes. The greatest benefit has been the significant reduction in serious and fatal road crashes.

You can access a range of documents including achievement and monitoring fact sheets, maps, community meetings and updates through the Pacific Highway upgrade document library.

This section is currently under construction.

The 14km Coffs Harbour bypass will take vehicles west of the urban area, from Englands Road in the south to Sapphire in the north.

This is the final stage of the Pacific Highway upgrade and is currently under construction. 

The Ballina Interchange plays a vital role in facilitating movement at the intersection of the Bruxner and Pacific Highways. 

Transport for NSW is making lane configuration changes on the northbound off ramp and roundabout the Ballina Interchange on the Pacific Highway.

This will:

• improve safety
• reduce congestion

Read more about the project