by Cat Holloway /
Initial land clearing is finally underway on the long-awaited Jervis Bay Road intersection upgrade, a project expected to significantly improve safety and traffic flow on the busy Princes Highway south of Nowra.
The "Jervis Bay Road Flyover" is projected to boost tourism and economic activity in the region, creating around 110 jobs during four years of construction.
The $164 million project, jointly funded by the Australian Federal and New South Wales governments, will see the construction of a grade-separated "flyover", allowing highway traffic to bypass Jervis Bay Road via an overpass. Roundabouts on either side of the intersection will facilitate smooth local traffic movement.
A dangerous bottleneck for many years, the Jervis Bay Rd intersection experiences the highest traffic volume of any Princes Highway intersection between Nowra and the Victorian border. Aside from the frequent congestion frustrating locals and tourists, 15 crashes resulting in six serious injuries were recorded at the intersection in the past five years.
Transport for NSW video explaining the design of the intersection upgrade.
Several political representatives attended last week's media announcement event marking the start of the flyover's construction phase. The Federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, Kristy McBain; the member for South Coast, Liza Butler; the New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns and the New South Wales minister for regional roads, Jenny Aitchison, all dressed for the occasion in hardhats and hi-vis vests. They joined Federal Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, in applauding the community residents group Vincentia Matters on their long-term grassroots campaigning for the extensive level of engineering that was approved.
Phillips particularly thanked Liz Tooley for spearheading the successful community campaign that included gathering more than 14,000 signatures on a petition calling for a comprehensive overpass solution to the famous black spot.
Addressing Parliament last week, Phillips said she agreed with the community that the originally proposed roundabout was unacceptable for the main gateway to Huskisson and Jervis Bay.
"The Princes Highway-Jervis Bay intersection is the busiest and most crash-prone intersection to the Victorian border, Phillips said.
"In peak times, locals and tourists know all about the long queues that can be seen backed up on Jervis Bay Road.
"But what did the local Liberals propose all those years ago for this intersection? A roundabout. And the community had their say about that—that it just would not be good enough."
SRG Global Civil won the tender for the flyover and estimated that construction would take less than four years, weather permitting. The ASX-listed industrial services company is headquartered in Western Australia with offices and projects throughout Australia, New Zealand, USA and the United Arab Emirates. SRG Global started in 1961 with work on the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme.
The Jervis Bay Road upgrade was hindered by two separate government infrastructure reviews: the NSW government's Infrastructure Needs Assessment review between 2019 and 2021, and the Federal Government's 2022/2023 review of 800 infrastructure projects of questionable value and planning.
After initial work in June 2023 was halted by the review announcement, Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, personally guaranteed the prioritisation of the Jervis Bay Rd upgrade.
“I want to make sure it’s delivered. This is an important project. I’ve seen for myself why it’s necessary and we’ll get on with the job of doing it."
However, it was not until October 2023 that the review was completed and works were again approved. Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, claimed the bureaucratic delays caused massive cost increases to the project. SRG Global announced the project value at $90m. The current stated budget of $164 million includes $100 million of federal funding and 64 million from the state government.
Although public support for the SRG flyover plan is enthusiastic and Shoalhaven Council voted unanimously in favour of it, some community members and groups have raised concerns that the new road design is an overreaction and excessively expensive. Alternative proposals were considered including traffic signals, extra turning lanes and grade separation of the road without an overpass or with a tunnel instead. Critics of the design questioned the large amount of land required for the flyover, the visual impact on the landscape and the destruction of local flora and fauna. Some residents suggested the flyover design might lead to unintended consequences like increased speeding or congestion at other points on the Jervis Bay Road. Other concerns are for the integration of pedestrian pathways, bicycle lanes, and landscaping features.
Environmental impacts from noise pollution, disruption to wildlife habitats and risk to water quality are among the questions previously raised in the plan's environmental impact investigations and SRG have stated their intent to continue consultation with the local community representatives throughout construction.
