The upgrade will deliver at least 30 additional overtaking lanes over four years, including six lanes from Peak Hill down to the south of Forbes and four additional overtaking lanes north of West Wyalong.

The Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey was in town to make the announcement.

“I just want to say this is really exciting and acknowledge the work of my RMS team in delivering what is going to be a major, major upgrade for the Newell highway,” she said.

“We expect it's going to shave about 25 minutes in travelling time for the entire stretch of the highway in NSW.

“We are going to get the lanes out the door really quickly and we are taking a new approach to the way we do it.

“In a massive investment in partnership with BMD employing local people, we’ll be constructing 13 lanes from Parkes to Narrabri, 14 lanes from Parkes to Narrandera, two from Finley to Tocumwal and another one between Narrabri and the Queensland border.

Minister Pavey said work on the projects will start in about six weeks, the first one in this patch of the highway where an average of 2300 vehicles per day travel.

“We are ready to go, the contract has been let, there has been a very competitive process,” she said.

“We’ve been working on that contract for probably about 12 months - a new approach that is designed to get as much bitumen on the road delivered in the shortest amount of time.”

Minister Pavey said each of the new overtaking lanes, at one and a half kilometres long, is an exciting improvement.

“It’s about freight, it’s about our farmers, but it’s also about our residents and our communities,” she said.

“It’s about safety, it’s about not being frustrated sitting behind a caravan and knowing that there is going to be an overtaking opportunity shortly.

“It’s about all of those things and it’s mainly about our government investing in regional NSW in a way that it’s never experienced.”

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