A program of vital safety and congestion upgrades is set to be delivered for the Princes Highway with a $60 million investment from the New South Wales Government.
The first phase of this program will see $10.4 million invested this year between Sussex Inlet Road and Moruya.
The work, which begins next month, includes 5.4km of flexible safety barriers between Conjola Creek and Lake Conjola Entrance Road, and wider centrelines near Conjola to better separate opposing lanes of traffic, reducing the risk of head-on crashes.
Later this year, work will kick off to install an additional southbound lane and concrete median on a 750m section of the highway at Batemans Bay to improve traffic efficiency and reduce congestion during peak periods.
The 110km stretch of road between Moruya and Sussex Inlet saw 276 crashes in the five years from 2019 to 2023. These safety upgrades are targeted at decreasing the risk of serious injury or death in the event of a crash.
Additionally, Shoulder widening and road resurfacing will be completed on the Princess Highway near Mogo and Bimbimbie.
This work is happening in conjunction with major works which are progressing on the Princes Highway upgrade projects including the Jervis Bay intersection upgrade, the Jervis Bay to Hawken Road upgrade and the Milton Ulladulla Bypass.
Future upgrades are in planning for Batemans Bay, Moruya, Bodalla, Narooma, Bega, and Eden. This includes signs, coloured pavement and line marking to encourage safer driving speeds for motorists entering towns by reinforcing a changing speed zone.
This is part of the New South Wales Government’s ongoing work to reduce the state’s road toll and deliver the essential infrastructure communities rely on. This has included:
- Investing over $200 million into the Towards Zero safer roads program
- Turning on the existing mobile phone camera detection network to detect seatbelt infringements
- Removing a loophole to force all motorists driving on a foreign licence to convert to a NSW licence within six months
- Implementing the demerit return trial that rewarded more than 1 million drivers for maintaining a demerit-offence-free driving record during the second year of the trial
- Doubling roadside enforcement sites used for mobile speed cameras, with the addition of 2,700 new locations where a camera can be deployed. Enforcement hours will remain the same
- Signing the National Road Safety Data Agreement with the Commonwealth
- Hosting the state’s first Road Safety Forum in 2024 with international experts and a Motorcycle Safety Roundtable in April 2025
Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, said, “Any life lost on our roads is a tragedy.
“The South Coast is a beautiful place, whether someone lives here or are just visiting for the night, we want to ensure when someone gets in their car, they know they are safe on our state’s roads,” Minns said.
“We ask drivers to take every precaution they can on our roads, it’s important as a government we also do everything we can.
“Today’s announcement is one part of that work.”
New South Wales Minister for Roads and Regional Transport, Jenny Aitchison, said that as the Minister for Roads, road safety is her top priority.
“We know that the road toll in NSW is far too high, and that two thirds of deaths on our roads happen on country roads. These important safety upgrades are crucial in helping us move towards zero road fatalities on our roads,” Aitchison said.
“The Princes Highway is the most important road connection through the South Coast, linking communities from Sydney to the Victorian border. I am pleased that we have been able to provide a further $60 million towards improvements to the route.
“This project will deliver road safety improvements for the local community and improved connections for locals, tourists and freight operators up and down the south coast.”
