If Cessnock drivers can find a shortcut, they will use it.
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So it should come as no surprise that the Hunter Expressway is having an impact on local roads.
Work to replace Abermain’s Frame Drive bridge has finally started, almost 18 months after it was closed due to damage sustained in the April 2015 superstorm.
Frame Drive had become a rat-run to the Hunter Expressway’s Loxford exit.
The load limit on the single-lane timber bridge was reduced twice in the first six months after the expressway opened, and the superstorm sealed the bridge’s fate.
Cessnock City Council was fortunate enough to receive $2 million from the federal government for Frame Drive bridge (covering half the cost), but the NSW Government hasn’t contributed a cent.
Roads and Maritime Services has funded upgrades at other feeder points to the expressway, including the M1 Pacific Motorway, the New England Highway, Lovedale Road/Allandale Road and Buchanan Road.
While people who used Frame Drive to connect to the expressway will welcome the new bridge, some nearby residents may not appreciate the impact having a two-lane lane bridge with no load limit will have on their formerly quiet, rural road.
Upgrades to Orange Street, Gingers Lane, Government Road and Hart Road should come next – but the total project is estimated to cost more than $15 million.
Another project that has recently gained traction is the need for a formal carpark at the expressway’s Heddon Greta interchange.
Commuters are meeting at the former entrance to Stanford Road to carpool, but a traffic island prevents right-hand turns.
Drivers are either performing illegal U-turns or travelling further along Main Road to turn around in residential streets, impacting local residents.
A formal carpark would need proper access. If this can be provided, it will be a win for all as far as safety is concerned.
Further down Main Road, the issue of flooding at Testers Hollow remains to be fixed.
The main road between Cessnock and Maitland has been closed four times in nine years due to flooding.
Traffic has increased by more than 4000 vehicles a day since the expressway opened.
The Liberal Party pledged $15 million towards Testers Hollow during the 2016 election campaign. Let’s hope they come to the party before the road floods again.
