This weekend the final section of the Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway Upgrade will open, just in time for peak Christmas traffic.
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Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan made the announcement on his social media sites this morning, and there are already reports from truckies that some of the 60km roadworks areas between Woodburn and the Devils Pulpit (near Tabbimoble) have been lifted.
Mr Hogan said the dual-lane carriageway is 144km-long and cost around $5 billion to build, which equates to around $34.7 million per kilometre.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack extolled the virtues of the upgrade for that price tag.
"The greatest dividend from this investment is the improvement in safety for road users - whether you're travelling on it every day or once a year on family holidays," Mr McCormack said.
"The death toll on the highway has reduced by more than 50 per cent since work began to make the entire length four lane dual carriageway.
"It has been a remarkable feat of engineering. At completion, there will be 170 bridges over rivers, creeks, and floodplains, including new major bridges crossing the Clarence and Richmond rivers.
"The travel distance between Woolgoolga and Ballina will be about 13km shorter and about 25 minutes faster.
"We want to get people where they need to be sooner and safer and upon completion, the Pacific Highway upgrades will mean that people can get from Hexham to the Queensland border in two and a half hours less time than they would have previously, before the upgrade started."
Of course, with that section of highway now just a ribbon-cutting away, all eyes are now on the remaining bottlenecks: Hexham and Coffs Harbour.
Luckily for those of us who regularly travel northwards, there has been some movement at the Coffs Harbour station.
The Coffs Harbour bypass - the town's biggest ever infrastructure project - was given the official green light this week by the Federal Government.
"The 14km bypass is going to take more than 12,000 vehicles a day out of the centre of Coffs Harbour, reduce travel times by as much as 12 minutes by bypassing 12 sets of traffic lights, and improve safety for all road users," the Deputy Prime Minister said.
"Transport for NSW has now received the final stamp of approval, after close scrutiny by the NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and the Australian Minister for the Environment.
"This approval includes the proposed tunnels at Roberts Hill, Shephards Lane and Gatelys Road, as well as assessing the project for its social, environmental, heritage and economic impacts, and gives the project team the green light to go ahead with major work."
State Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh said getting the official tick to move forward was exciting news for the community, which will see things happening immediately, with noise treatments and utility relocations ready to go straight away.
"So many locals have told me they just want to see the bypass built and this next step ushers in a new phase, bringing a vital boost to the local economy while construction is underway," Mr Singh said.
"We've now got the green light and can get on with delivery of the biggest infrastructure project that Coffs has ever seen - it's an investment in the future of our community."
The project is expected to take around five years to build, weather permitting.