Frequently Asked Questions
Project overview
Fulton Hogan Construction Pty Ltd has been engaged to finalise the design and construct the Rankin Park to Jesmond project.
Key features include:
a 3.4 kilometre bypass between Lookout Road at New Lambton Heights and Newcastle Road at Jesmond, to the west of the John Hunter Hospital.
two lanes in each direction and three interchanges designed to improve traffic flow and increase connectivity (northern, southern and hospital).
provision of structures to provide connectivity in the bushland for people and animals
off-road provisions for pedestrians and cyclists including the completed shared path bridge over Newcastle Road at Jesmond Park and a cycle over and underpass at the northern interchange.
a sign posted speed limit of 90km/h.
The project will take around three years to complete, with the bypass expected to open to traffic in 2025.
The project will provide traffic relief to the surrounding road network, in particular the existing route of Lookout Road, Croudace Street and Newcastle Road, which is currently used by about 40,000 to 60,000 vehicles each day. The new bypass will remove up to 30,000 vehicles each day from the existing route.
When completed, motorists travelling on the new section of bypass would avoid up to 11 sets of traffic lights along the existing route. The bypass is expected to reduce travel times by up to 80 per cent during morning and afternoon peaks.
Connectivity for the John Hunter Hospital precinct will be improved with a full interchange on the bypass providing access for the hospital from the north and south. This will help to improve access for staff, patients and visitors travelling to and from the hospital precinct.
Safety will be improved on the surrounding road network with crashes predicted to reduce by 32 per cent.
Additional connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists will help to support active transport across the Newcastle region.
The surrounding road network experiences high levels of traffic congestion and delays at key intersections. Without the Rankin Park to Jesmond section of the bypass, these issues are likely to worsen in the future as traffic volumes increase.
The interactive construction activity map on this portal will be kept up to date with all work activities underway. General updates about the project including positive stories and innovations will be featured on the home page of this portal and regularly updated.
Environment
Tree clearing for the project started in March 2023 and was completed in June 2023.
Flora and fauna protection are a key part of our environmental management plans for the site. A dedicated ecologist oversees clearing activities, with walks at the beginning of every shift (day or night) to identify and relocate any fauna to outside the construction area but within the same habitat area before activities occur. We have a fauna protection procedure to safely relocate animals under the guidance of our ecologist. We will also work with local wildlife rescue groups if needed.
We have installed additional habitat in the form of carved hollows, nest boxes and reuse of salvaged hollows. The carved hollows have been installed using a ‘Hollowhog’ which allows new tree hollows to be carved while having minimal impact on the health and integrity of the tree. For the first two years, we will monitor this annually to ensure it is effective.
We are working with local Landcare to salvage Black-eyed Susan to be replanted elsewhere to prevent loss to this vulnerable species.
Monitoring of Black-eyed Susan, Grey-headed Flying-fox and Powerful Owl species will be carried out during construction and for at least 12 months after completion, to monitor and manage, if needed, the impacts of construction.
If you happen upon any other native wildlife in your yard, we recommend getting in touch with a local wildlife rescue such as Hunter Wildlife Rescue – they have trained carers to assist.
To mitigate the fragmentation of habitat for fauna, a fauna connectivity strategy will be implemented. This strategy involves:
one dedicated fauna culvert near Dark Creek
a fauna underpass between the southern and hospital interchange, beneath one of the bypass bridges
two rope bridges for arboreal (tree-dwelling) fauna on each side of the hospital interchange
fencing to guide fauna to the crossing infrastructure. The fencing would be established as close as possible to the road to maximise available habitat for fauna.
The culvert and bridge underpass are suitable for ground-based species such as Swamp Wallaby, while the rope bridges are suitable for arboreal mammal species including Squirrel Glider and Brushtail Possum.
At times we will use machinery and equipment that generate light, noise and vibration. We will make every effort to minimise these impacts by:
turning off machinery and vehicles when not in use
using non-tonal reversing alarms
ensuring trucks use internal haul roads and major roads to minimise the use of local roads
limit the use of engine compression brakes near residential areas where practicable
positioning of machines and noise blankets
directing temporary lighting down and away from homes
planning activities close to residents within standard construction hours and scheduling noisy activities earlier in the night, where possible
monitoring noise and vibration so we can manage any potential impacts and adjust our work, where possible.
Noise levels will likely vary between moderate to noisy. Directly affected residents will be contacted and advised of the likely impact and what we are doing to minimise disruption during the work.
Construction activities would result in a short-term increase in localised vibration levels. At times, these vibration levels may be felt at sensitive receivers close to the proposal.
The Noise and Vibration Management Plan for the project identifies safe working distances for equipment likely to be used to prevent structural damage for standard dwellings and heritage buildings. If vibratory work occurs within these distances, monitoring will be carried out to ensure the appropriate mitigation measures have been put in place.
There is an expected reduction in operational noise along the existing route of Lookout Road, Croudace Street and Newcastle Road due to the new bypass. It is likely to create operational noise to the west of the project and mitigation measures will be implemented to reduce these impacts including:
road design and traffic management
noise mounds and walls
at-property treatments.
Two noise walls will be built along the bypass:
a 405 metre long, three metre high noise wall along the northern bridge
a 756 metre long, 3.5 metre high noise wall along the northbound off ramp from the bypass at the northern interchange. This noise wall starts just north of the hospital interchange and continues until the overpass of the bypass.
The implementation of the noise barriers reduces the number of properties qualifying for consideration of architectural treatments. Properties that are determined to be eligible will be contacted and informed of the impacts and at-property treatments to mitigate noise.
To compensate for impacts to threatened ecological communities and species as a result of the project, biodiversity offsets will be provided for in accordance with the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Policy for Major Projects. We have committed to offset all vegetation directly impacted by the project plus a 10 metre buffer around the project.
Construction
The project’s main offices and engineering site are located near the Mater Hospital at Waratah, on the old water reservoir site, which is accessed via Platt Street. The site will be operating until project completion.
To support construction, two small satellite site compounds have been established at the western end of Jesmond Park and at Lookout Road, near McCaffrey Drive at New Lambton Heights. These site compounds will be used for site sheds, stockpile areas, a storage yard, staff amenities and parking facilities. These are temporary compounds only and will be removed on project completion.
There will be traffic impacts on the surrounding road network during construction. We will minimise delays by completing work with more significant impacts at night.
We will also be implementing traffic staging plans for where the bypass connects to Newcastle Road and Lookout Road to manage how traffic flows through the work area and ensures traffic keeps moving.
As the project progresses, we will provide more information including explanatory videos on this portal outlining the traffic staging for the surrounding road network.
At times during construction there may be delays on the surrounding road network that will increase travel times. We will keep the community notified of traffic changes and impacts via this portal, the media and Facebook.
To receive updates about construction activities and traffic changes via email, please register for e-updates.
Pedestrian and cyclist access
A number of tracks in the bushland will be closed during construction and after completion of the project. We have installed flagging and pegs to show bushland users where our work area is located.
We will keep the community informed about any track closures using signage and highlighting impacted tracks on the interactive construction activity map on this portal.
A number of existing tracks will not reopen following completion of the project due to the alignment of the bypass, and instead will be redirected to connect with new access points across the bypass.
Two east-west access points will be provided using the shared path at the new hospital interchange and an underpass further to the north under a bridge crossing Barrie’s Creek.
The shared path at the interchange will connect with the existing track on the western side of the bypass that travels between Dangerfield Drive to the south and Claymore Close and Boambee Close within Silver Ridge to the north.
The bridge over Barrie’s Creek is located between the hospital and northern interchanges.
Access across the bypass in the southern half of the project is not possible due to the road geometry and the bypass being constructed on a steep embankment. There are significant earthworks required through the southern half of the bypass and the level of the road on the side of a steep embankment does not allow for construction of an underpass near the existing trail from Sygna Close.
The hospital upgrade project also incorporates a new internal road that will sit about six metres higher than the bypass in this area and it is not feasible to provide access across the bypass and this new hospital road.
A grade-separated east-west shared path will be built as part of the northern interchange. This will allow pedestrians and cyclists to continue on their journey uninterrupted as they pass over the on and off ramps, and under the bypass.
Project design
The posted speed limit for this section of the bypass will be 90km/h.
Yes the project includes a full interchange for the John Hunter Hospital with full access for northbound and southbound motorists.
The interchange will also incorporate a shared path connecting the hospital to the existing bush track that travels between Dangerfield Drive to the south and Claymore Close and Boambee Close within Silver Ridge to the north, on the western side of the bypass.
During the project’s development, Transport carried out further investigations of potential north facing ramps at McCaffrey Drive following community feedback. A traffic and transport assessment for the project was carried out which included investigations into the projected traffic demands at McCaffrey Drive and the potential inclusion of north-facing ramps connecting to the bypass.
It is predicted 17,000 vehicles will use McCaffrey Drive each day following completion of the bypass, which is a reduction of about 15 per cent. Traffic volumes on the existing route of Lookout Road, Croudace Street and Newcastle Road are also predicted to reduce by up to 43 per cent.
The investigations found that while design and construction of the ramps is technically possible, the low forecast use of the ramps and their cost of about $25 million to build meant they were not economically viable.
A major design challenge for potential ramps is the steep terrain and increased environmental impact. Inclusion of ramps would also impact other traffic movements on the bypass which would increase queuing and delay road users.
Modelling does not suggest traffic from McCaffrey Drive will use the hospital internal roads to access the hospital interchange and then access the bypass.
Construction of the bypass includes building six new bridges:
taking northbound traffic on Lookout Road over the bypass
over the bypass for motorists accessing McCaffrey Drive and Lookout Road
providing hospital access to/from the north
providing an underpass for bushwalker access, fauna movements and drainage
for motorists continuing on the bypass over the Newcastle Road exit
for motorists continuing on the bypass over Newcastle Road.
Residents
Managing risk is a key part of any major construction project and building condition inspections are part of the standard conditions of consent for the construction of the Rankin Park to Jesmond section of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass.
Part of the pre-construction requirements are to undertake and prepare building and structure condition survey reports for every building of structure within 50 metres of the construction boundary or that are likely to be affected by vibration or air blast. Building condition inspections will be completed again at the end of construction works, both inspections and the subsequent reports are provided at no expense to property owners. The report will consist of a photographic log of the current condition of the interior and exterior of the property.
These are an effective way of documenting the existing condition of a building before work starts so if there are any changes or damage during construction, there is evidence for both the property owner and the contractor to resolve any issues quickly and easily.
These are a precautionary measure and are voluntary. If property owners choose not to proceed with the inspection, this will be recorded in our customer system. When making a decision on whether to proceed with the inspection, please note any future claims for damage caused by the project would require the pre-construction and post-construction condition survey reports as evidence.
Planning for surrounding road network
Transport for NSW has undertaken investigations including traffic modelling and strategic design along the Newcastle Inner City Bypass between Kimbarra Close at Kotara and Grandview Road at New Lambton Heights.
Transport will seek future funding to initiate upgrades and service improvements to alleviate congestion along this section of the bypass, which is likely to include multi modal options to enable greater travel choice for our customers as well as capacity improvements along the Newcastle Inner City Bypass.