Belford to Golden Highway - New England Highway

Minor finishing work is now complete and the reduced roadwork speed limit on the New England Highway has been removed. 

The speed limit on the New England Highway is 100km/h.

Thank you for your patience while the project was carried out. 

Major upgrade work is now complete on the New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.

Motorists will notice some minor work in the new year to finalise the project including line marking, sign installation and revegetation work. A reduced speed restriction will remain in place until this work is completed.  

The project has delivered improved safety, travel times and reliability for more than 25,000 motorists who travel along this section of the New England Highway each day.

Since its opening in July, the new flyover has provided a significant improvement, with the removal of the right turn onto the highway.

Thank you for your patience while the project was carried out.

The project was delivered by Acciona Construction Australia Pty Ltd on behalf of Transport for NSW.

View the media release announcing the completion of the upgrade.

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An event for the completion of the upgrade was held in December 2023.

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Night work is being carried out to complete asphalting on the eastbound lanes of the Golden Highway and New England Highway.

This work requires temporary night closures of the Golden Highway from 8pm on Monday 6 November to 4am on Friday 24 November (excluding Saturday and Sunday nights). A detour will be in place from 8pm each night to 4am the following morning.

Motorists will be detoured via Range Road and the New England Highway. You can view the detour route in our November 2023 project notification (PDF, 322.87 KB).

Overnight from Monday 21 August, traffic travelling towards Singleton will be permanently moved onto the reconstituted dual lane westbound carriageway.

Traffic travelling towards Newcastle will continue to drive on a single eastbound lane until finishing work is completed on the dual lane, which is expected to take about four weeks to complete, weather permitting.

Work on the upgrade will continue to be carried out from 7am to 6pm on weekdays and from 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.

The speed limit will be reduced to 60km/h at times during the day while work is carried out adjacent to the new carriageways. An 80km/h speed limit will be in place outside of these times.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

Road users are now able to travel along the new flyover bridge and roundabout.

Newcastle and Maitland bound motorists turning right from the Golden Highway on to the New England Highway will travel along the new flyover bridge.

Singleton bound motorists turning left from the Golden Highway on to the New England Highway will use the new roundabout.

Work on the upgrade will continue to be carried out weekdays from 7am to 6pm and on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm.

Traffic control and a reduce speed limit of 80km/h will be in place for the safety of workers and motorists.

The New England Highway is part of the inland route of the Sydney to Brisbane National Land Transport Network and the primary route connecting the Upper Hunter with Maitland and Newcastle. The Golden Highway connects the New England Highway at Whittingham with Dubbo.

These road corridors are designated B-Double routes and are used extensively by heavy vehicles servicing coal mining, grain production and other industries in the Hunter Valley and the Central West to access the port of Newcastle.

The New England Highway is a critical connection between the urban and employment centres of Maitland and Singleton, which are planned future growth areas for the Hunter region.

Around 22,000 vehicles travel along the New England Highway between Belford and the Golden Highway each day. Prior to the upgrade this section of the New England Highway was two lanes westbound and one lane eastbound and had a history of crashes, particularly near the Golden Highway intersection.

Transport for NSW engaged Acciona Construction Australia Pty Ltd to deliver the upgrade.

Main construction work started in late September 2021 and was completed in December 2023.

The upgrade will:

• increase capacity and connectivity of the New England Highway and Golden Highway for the efficient and reliable movement of freight
• improve safety at the New England Highway and Golden Highway intersection by reducing the risk of crashes, particularly for motorists turning right from the Golden Highway
• increase capacity at the New England Highway and Golden Highway intersection to cater for the predicted increase in traffic movements due to future growth in the Hunter
• allow for access to existing and future adjoining land uses.

The upgrade includes:

• widening the New England Highway to provide a divided road with two lanes in each direction between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• replacing the existing right turn movement from the Golden Highway to the New England Highway with a flyover
• a roundabout on the Golden Highway with a connection to the New England Highway improves safety for motorists turning left onto the New England Highway towards Singleton and provides safer access to adjoining properties.

To see the project design, please view or download the project overview diagram (PDF, 1.02Mb).

The Whittingham rest area adjacent to the New England Highway and Golden Highway intersection was permanently closed on Monday 3 February 2020 as part of the early work for the upgrade.

The nearby townships of Singleton and Branxton offer motorists an alternate place to stop with a range of amenities. Alternative rest areas are located:

• about 15 kilometres north on the New England Highway at Rixs Creek Road, north of Singleton
• about 10 kilometres south on the Hunter Expressway at Branxton (heavy vehicles only)
• about 40 kilometres south on the Hunter Expressway at Buchanan.

 For information about nearby rest area locations and facilities please visit Journey planning.

Work on the project was completed well ahead of schedule, in late 2023.

• November 2023 project notification (PDF, 322.87 KB)
  Temporary closure of the New England Highway for night work from Monday 6 November
• May 2023 project notification (PDF, 351.7 KB)
  Temporary closure of the New England Highway for night work from Monday 5 June.
• July 2022 project notification
  1 July 2022 Temporary closure of the New England Highway for night work from Thursday 14 July.
• April 2022 project notification
  Temporary closure of the Golden Highway for night work on the New England Highway upgrade from Tuesday 26 April.
• August 2021 project notification
  Night work on the New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway from Monday 30 August.

• November 2022 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• October 2022 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• March 2022 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• November 2021 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• July 2021 project update
  Site compound and start of construction.
• June 2021 project update
  Construction contract awarded.
• December 2019 project update
  Whittingham rest area permanently closing on Monday 3 February 2020.
• September 2019 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• August 2018 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• April 2018 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway - design improvements.
• June 2017 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway - concept design and environmental assessment.
• September 2016 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• May 2015 project update
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.

• July 2018 submissions report
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
• July 2018 submissions report
  Submissions report appendices.
• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Main report.
• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix B - Community consultation.

• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix E - Biodiversity assessment report.

• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix G - Contamination report.

• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix H - Noise and vibration assessment report.
• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix I - Non-Aboriginal heritage assessment report.

• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix J - Landscape Character, Visual Impact Assessment + Urban Design Study.

• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix K - Air quality searches.

• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix L - Socio-economic assessment report.

• June 2017 review of environmental factors report
  Appendix M - Climate Projections.

• August 2015 community consultation report
  New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.

• 20 December 2023
  Early Christmas gift as Belford to Golden Highway upgrade wraps up major work.

The following reports area available upon request by contacting us:

• June 2017 review of environmental factors report - Appendix C - Aboriginal community consultation
• June 2017 review of environmental factors report - Appendix D - Stage 2 walkover report
• June 2017 review of environmental factors report - Appendix F - Cultural heritage assessment report.