NSW coast roadworks

Submitted: Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 19:43
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We are travelling from Lithgow back to Brisbane early next week with kids in tow. We came down here via Dubbo on the Newell, but would like to go back via the coast. I've heard there's a lot of roadworks on the coast road, so just wondering how bad it is and if it's going to add considerable time to our journey. Hoping to stop somewhere like Newcastle area for a couple of nights then do one or two overnighters before we get home. Any info on the roadworks? If you didn't go coast, which way would you reccomend. Need to be home by Saturday, leaving on Tuesday. With kids in the car, 6 hours is the most we can do in a day, if we're lucky.
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Reply By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 20:54

Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 20:54
I did that trip not long ago. From Sunshine Coast went down to Batemans Bay via the Newell and came back via the Pacific Hwy coast road.

There is quite a bit of roadworks on the Pacific Hwy but the delays are not great and the extensive sections of upgraded highway between the roadworks more than make up for it.

I was happy to travel the Newell for the experience but even happier to come home on the Pacific Hwy.
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Allan

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Reply By: KevL64 - Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 21:01

Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 21:01
There's always the New England highway with a few variations on it too. Perhaps via Gloucester, a nice drive but maybe not if towing a van. Either way, a very scenic trip.
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Reply By: Member Andys Adventures - Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 22:20

Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 22:20
Try The Bells line Rd and then the Putty Rd to Singleton, nice rest area at Howes Valley ( there is a turn off that will take you to Broke and back to Newcastle). From Singleton either up the New England or to Dungog then Bulahdelah. From there it is 2 lane Hwy to Port Macquarie, you will start to see road works after that.



It's better than being in Sydney traffic. M4/ M7/ M2 then Pennant Hills Rd/ M1.




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Follow Up By: madfisher - Monday, Sep 28, 2015 at 20:49

Monday, Sep 28, 2015 at 20:49
better option then the putty road is go north on the Castlereagh highway then turn off towards kandos/Rylstone then take the road to bylong/ sandy Hollow then back toMaitland Newcastle. Its is a very scenic road, one of the great drives.
cheers pete
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Reply By: Gramps - Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 23:23

Saturday, Sep 26, 2015 at 23:23
If you've got a smartphone try the "Live Traffic NSW" app. It's usually pretty accurate.
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Reply By: Member-Heather MG NSW - Sunday, Sep 27, 2015 at 05:43

Sunday, Sep 27, 2015 at 05:43
We traveled down the coast from Brisbane to Ulladulla a couple of weeks ago, towing our caravan, and weren't held up for too long anywhere by road works. The Highway by-passes many of the towns now and makes the journey considerably faster than it used to be.
The journey from Lithgow should be straightforward enough if you stick to the major roads in Sydney, especially the M7 and follow signs to North Coast and Newcastle from there, and there's really only a few kms of more congested roads around Pennant Hills.

regards,

Heather
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. John Muir

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Reply By: Erad - Sunday, Sep 27, 2015 at 20:14

Sunday, Sep 27, 2015 at 20:14
We travelled Brissy to Cooma last weekend via the Pacific Hwy. From Pt Macquarie south, it is all divided road. North from there to Coffs, it is roadwork for most of the way. 60 & 80 km/h limits. Occasional stretches of new road - super, but overall rather slow. Once North from Grafton, it is mostly old road and the speed varies with the traffic density. Oddly enough, the worst section of road was the Pacific Hwy in Qld, from Helensvale south to the border. It was stopped totally for no apparent reason, then crawling for about an hour. Once at the border, Vroom and away we went.

ALthough there are a lot of roadworks, traffic generally moved OK - just rather slowly because of the roadworks speed limits which I considered to be inappropriate simply because there was no activity on most of the sectors. Even the old road sections were not too bad. There is absolutely no reason for the horrible history of crashes on that road, other than people's impatience or fatigue.
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Follow Up By: Erad - Sunday, Sep 27, 2015 at 20:19

Sunday, Sep 27, 2015 at 20:19
Forgot to add - we left Brissy at about midday Saturday, and made it as far as Nambucca Heads, the last 30 minutes in darkness with non-stop oncoming traffic in pouring rain. That was about 6:00 pm. The next day was a breeze - most of the roadworks were behind us and then it was simply a long drive home. Even getting out of Brissy was hell. I think that overall, we spent about an hour stopped in Qld on the freeway. It was the start of School holidays, I know, but it was not good, despite having the best road system around. There was simply too much traffic for it to cope.
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Follow Up By: Dave(NSW) - Sunday, Sep 27, 2015 at 20:53

Sunday, Sep 27, 2015 at 20:53
last weekend was the start of the school holidays that would explain the heavy traffic coming out of Brisbane.
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