THE Kempsey Bypass project is the first stage of the approved 40km Kempsey to Eungai Pacific Hwy upgrade.
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The $618 million project was fully funded by the Australian government.
The bypass is 14.5km long and includes Australia’s longest road bridge, which spans the floodplain at Frogmore and the Macleay River at Frederickton.
In September 2001, the Department of Roads and Maritime Services (formerly the Roads and Transport Authority) began investigating a route to upgrade the Pacific Hwy to a four-lane divided road from Kempsey to Eungai.
Early options and a description of the environmental, social and engineering aspects of each route were displayed for public comment in October 2002.
The preferred route, which included a bypass to the east of Kempsey and Frederickton and two sub-options, was placed on display for community comment from December 2003.
The final preferred route for the bypass was announced in July 2004.
An Environmental Assessment for the bypass was completed in 2007, and subsequently the project was approved by the NSW Minister for Planning in July 2008.
The Roads and Maritime Services Department (RMS) formed the Kempsey Bypass Alliance with Leighton Contractors, AECOM and Coffey Geotechnics to construct the Kempsey bypass.
A separate contract was awarded to Abigroup for the design and construction of the bridge across the Macleay River and its floodplain.
Main construction started in July 2010, with the bypass being opened to traffic by federal Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Anthony Albanese on Wednesday, March 27, 2013.
The Pacific Hwy upgrade is one of the largest infrastructure projects in NSW history.
It has improved road conditions and travel times between Hexham, north of Newcastle to the Queensland border.
Over the past five years, the NSW and Australian governments have jointly committed $7.92 billion towards upgrading the highway to a four-lane, divided road.
With the completion of the Kempsey Bypass project, 360km of a total of 677km of the Pacific Highway are now double lane, divided road.
A further 58km is under construction, with environment assessments or concept designs being prepared for the remaining sections.
You can read more about the bypass in theKempsey Bypass Souvenir Feature in today's Macleay Argus.