An artist’s impression of the completed project to extend the western overtaking lanes. Photo: Transport for NSW.
Motorists who use Heathcote Road will face more traffic disruption and closures in the coming months, but the payoff will be an upgraded overtaking lane and improved travel times.
According to Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart, more than 22,000 motorists use the busy road every day, including many Illawarra residents.
The NSW Government has approved a $180 million upgrade of the road to create 2.5 km of dual westbound lanes from just west of Heathcote Road Bridge to New Illawarra Road. The design and construction contract has been awarded to Ertech.
Work is scheduled to start in the second half of the year.
Ms Stuart said the project was the next step in upgrading Heathcote Road, a key 24 km route connecting Sydney’s south and west with Wollongong and the South Coast.
“More than 22,000 motorists use this road every day, and this extension builds on the safety and reliability gains already delivered through the new Woronora River bridge and surrounding upgrades,” she said.
“This is a challenging corridor, but we’ve already shown we can deliver here, rebuilding flood-damaged sections and duplicating the bridge despite 13 flood events.
“This upgrade will make it safer to overtake, reduce delays for uphill traffic and improve resilience when incidents occur on this constrained section of road.”
Ms Stuart said the project would improve overall road safety, as well as improve traffic flow for motorists travelling uphill, reduce delays and provide a safer opportunity to overtake slower vehicles.
A map showing ongoing improvements along Heathcote Road. Image: Transport for NSW.
According to Transport for NSW’s Review of Environmental Factors (REF), the improvements were required due to a lack of road shoulders in the existing corridor, which, combined with steep grades and low sight distance, made it unsafe for road users.
“There is also little separation between opposing travel lanes, with major crash types along this corridor being head-on collisions, resulting in major injuries and some fatalities,” the report said.
The proposal would include blasting of the rock face, requiring intermittent full road closures for about 20 minutes at a time.
“Additionally, about 15 full weekend shutdowns (from Friday night to early Monday morning) would be required for construction activities. During these times, traffic would be required to detour 20 kilometres via Sutherland and Bangor,” the REF said.
Transport had considered widening the road on the eastbound lane side, but said that would “likely result in substantial environmental impacts, geotechnical risks due to the steepness of the landform and was not considered to be economically feasible”.
The proposal would result in the loss of almost 3 ha of vegetation, but the REF said the design was developed to address the challenging terrain, including steep cliffs and dense vegetation, while incorporating measures to manage environmental impacts and improve koala safety outcomes.
New pavement would be laid along the entire length of the westbound travel lanes and about 200 metres of the eastbound travel lane.
Transport for NSW consulted with the community on the REF in late 2025, receiving feedback that informed the final design. The community provided input on traffic management, road safety, construction timing and potential impacts to biodiversity, noise and local amenity.
