In readiness for Christmas. Over recent years there has been a terrific influx of Federal money into the Nerriga Road that links Braidwood with Nowra, the Shoalhaven and beyond.
Presenting a safer and more favoured option to the Clyde Mountain the road is gaining traction as the primary link to the South Coast, specifically that area of Shoalhaven around Nowra.
The upgrade of Nerriga Road is coming along nicely with the first stretches of asphalt laid this week. Queanbeyan-Palerang Council crews are working on sealing the last 16.5k of unsealed sections to improve travel to and from the South Coast.
Photo: Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council
In addition to the $30m for the sealing comes the $23 million Charleyong Bridge reconstruction announced in July this year.
Announcing the funding for the final section of sealing Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey said that the upgrade provides significant improvements for freight in the region and will also benefit the many commuter travellers that use the road.
“With several unsealed sections of the current road, there are significant restrictions and limitations to the size of heavy vehicles that are able to use the road.
“Upgrading the road will provide an alternative for heavy vehicles travelling to and from the NSW South Coast ..”, Mrs Pavey said. First identified as a South East Area Transport Strategy project in 2009 the project was proposed to provide a sealed road from the upgraded MR92 (Nowra to Nerriga) to link to the Kings Highway at Braidwood providing access to Canberra and Barton and Hume Highways following the existing road alignment with improvements to substandard sections of road. The Strategy considered that the upgrade would provide access to B Double standard from the Illawarra to Canberra with future more direct links provided to Cooma and beyond recognising that log trucks and other heavy vehicles associated with the Tallaganda forest areas use this link to the coast to both Nowra and Port Kembla. The proposed upgrade was also lauded to benefit tourism servicing Shoalhaven/Illawarra to Canberra and beyond.
In addition to the highly supported and funded Nerriga Road upgrade the Turpentine Road offshoot into Huskinson was also funded and completed which has seen a spike in visitors from the ACT as they discover this section of the coast.
Nerriga Road is approximately 50km in length between Braidwood and Nerriga. Beyond Nerriga the road continues for a further 70km and links Queanbeyan-Palerang with Nowra, the Shoalhaven and the Illawarra .
Shoalhaven overall has also seen a spike in holiday visitation following their sucessful #unspoilt tourism campaign and their inroads into the Canberra and South West holiday market. It is not known how much of an effect this will have on the tourism numbers who wend their way down the Clyde over summer. It is understood that the South East Area Transport Strategy do recognise the perception by inland visitors of the Clyde Mountain being unsafe might well contribute to a loss in visitation and by the increase in visitations to the Saphhire Coast via the Snowy Mountains Highway there is evidence that holiday makers from the ACT and the South West have found new places to explore in the Far South Coast that also follows on from a strong promotional campaign.
