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Project overview

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Construction sites footprint

Tunnel

Surface works

General information

Blackheath to Little Hartley upgrade will provide major economic and safety benefits. It will improve the connection between Central West NSW and Sydney, reduce congestion, improve resilience and freight productivity, and provide a safer and more reliable journey for thousands of residents, commuters, tourists and freight operators who travel in, around and through the Blue Mountains.

Transport is proposing to build a twin tunnel around 11 kilometres long between Blackheath and Little Hartley, and associated surface work. We have prepared an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and we are now seeking your feedback.

You can explore the EIS on the interactive map.

Key tunnel features

two tunnels, one eastbound and one westbound, around 11 kilometres long, generally to the south of the existing Great Western Highway and Mount Victoria.
two lanes of traffic flow in each tunnel, to separate traffic and increase safety.
entry and exit points (portals) around 400 metres south of Evans Lookout Road, Blackheath and at the base of Victoria Pass, Hartley Valley, southwest of Butlers Creek.
a tunnel depth of up to 200 metres below ground at the deepest point at Mount Victoria.
up to 2.5 metre wide shoulders to provide additional space for emergency situations or breakdowns.
surface road upgrade work to connect the tunnel to the surrounding road network at Blackheath and Little Hartley.
tunnel operation infrastructure including a tunnel operations facility next to the Blackheath portal, south of Evans Lookout Road, air ventilation systems, water management and treatment facilities, fire and life safety systems, and lighting and signage including variable message signs and overhead gantries..

Program benefits

Economic development, productivity, and recovery
Resilience and future proofing
Network performance improvements
Safety improvements
Movement, place and amenity improvements
Socio-economic opportunities

Read the full EIS on the DPE website

Next – Construction

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Construction

Map layers

Construction sites footprint

Construction site facilities

Indicative water supply route

Indicative haulage route

Construction vehicle access points

Operational site facilities

General

Subject to planning approval, construction would begin in 2024 with the aim of being open to traffic by 2030, and end of work activities including landscaping and site rehabilitation complete by 2031

To build the proposed Blackheath to Little Hartley Upgrade (the upgrade), works would be staged into the following activities:

site establishment and enabling works, such as site investigations, vegetation clearance
tunnel portal construction
tunnelling and associated works
surface road upgrades
operational infrastructure construction and fit-out
finishing works including landscaping, signage, testing, and commissioning.

Transport needs construction sites to support the upgrade and to allow for the construction of tunnel exit and entry points (portals), tunnel boring machine assembly and retrieval, stockpile and spoil handling, worker amenities and facilities, material storage, water treatment, communications and power.

Three construction sites are proposed to be located at:

Blackheath, south of Evans Lookout Road
Soldiers Pinch, adjacent to Browntown Oval in Mount Victoria
Little Hartley, at the base of Victoria Pass

Use the interactive map to see the location of construction compounds, tunnel boring machine launch sites and the impact of construction activities.

While we are working

A substantial portion of the twin tunnels would be built using two tunnel boring machines (TBMs). The TBMs would be launched from Little Hartley and tunnel eastbound towards Blackheath. They would be around 15 metres diameter and move upslope at around 70 to 90 metres per week.

The sections of the tunnels near the portals as well as the tunnel cross passages would be constructed using roadheaders and large excavators with a mounted rotating cutter head.

Surface works

To connect the tunnels to the local road network and upgraded Great Western Highway, some surface road upgrade works would be needed at Blackheath and Little Hartley. This would include earthworks, stormwater drainage, road pavement works, line marking, lighting, signage, gantries, Intelligent Transport Systems such as over height detection and landscaping.

Construction hours

Where possible, general construction activities, including at construction sites, would be carried out during standard work hours:

between 7am and 6pm, Monday to Friday
between 8am and 1pm on Saturdays
excluding Sundays or Public Holidays

The following activities may all occur 24 hours a day, up to seven days a week:

underground construction, including TBM and roadheader tunnelling and construction of roads and other infrastructure within tunnels
spoil handling within the tunnels and acoustic shed
spoil haulage
tunnel fit-out including mechanical and electrical fit-out
mechanical and electrical fit-out of operational buildings
emergency work, if required.

At Little Hartley, a temporary acoustic shed would be established to reduce construction noise and support out of hours tunnelling, including spoil handling.

Read EIS Chapter 5 – Construction

Next - Biodiversity

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Biodiversity

The Blue Mountains are home to unique ecosystems, protected through National Parks and the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

Transport for NSW is committed to protecting the flora and fauna of the Blue Mountains by avoiding or minimising impacts to biodiversity, including threatened flora and fauna species, native vegetation and important habitat areas.

Transport has completed extensive biodiversity studies for the proposed upgrade corridor

Please click on the map to find out which species were identified in our assessments between Blackheath and Little Hartley.

Before we start construction, a detailed Construction Flora and Fauna Management Plan (CFFMP) would be prepared as part of the Construction Environment Management Plan (CEMP) in consultation with relevant government agencies. The CEMP would detail how the upgrade would maintain, protect and manage potential impacts to the local environment during construction.

Read EIS Chapter 12 – Biodiversity

Next – Air quality

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Air quality

Map layers

Domains

Ventilation outlet options

Air quality monitoring locations

Sensitive receptors

General information

Air quality and human health is a priority for Transport for NSW when designing road tunnels for NSW. For the Blackheath to Little Hartley Upgrade (the upgrade), strict air quality requirements would ensure that air pollution levels are appropriately managed inside and outside the tunnel. These requirements are among the most rigorous in the world.

Transport has modelled the predicted pollutant concentrations of the upgrade and found that construction and operation of the proposed upgrade would not exceed the NSW Environment Protection Authority requirements.

Overall, we found that the upgrade would improve air quality as a result of improved traffic flow, and reduced gradient in the tunnel compared to the existing Victoria Pass. Air quality along the existing Great Western Highway from Blackheath to Little Hartley would also improve due to reduced traffic volumes.

Explore the air quality modelling during construction and operation on the interactive map.

Air quality during construction

Construction activities can generate dust which, if unmanaged, can possibly impact people and the environment nearby.

A range of dust mitigation measures would be considered as part of a Construction Environmental Management Plan and may include:

inspecting the sites to see where dust is coming from, considering weather conditions (particularly dry and windy conditions) and the scale, nature and intensity of construction activities
staging activities that generate dust to reduce cumulative impacts
locating stockpiles that could generate dust away from sensitive human and ecological sites
using water sprays, covers and enclosures and/or dust barriers
using rehabilitation or stabilisation measures to minimise the amount of dust that may be generated from disturbed areas
putting speed limits in place.

Ventilation for the tunnels

The design for the ventilation system has not yet been confirmed and we are currently investigating two different options:

Ventilation outlet option: This includes a ventilation building and outlet at the Blackheath and Little Hartley tunnel entry and exit points. Each of the ventilation buildings would be located underground, while the outlet would extend to around 10 metres above ground (around three storeys).
Portal emissions optionThis option would disperse tunnel emissions via the tunnel’s exit points and would not require ventilation outlets and buildings. Instead, air would move through the tunnels by the movement of vehicles (the piston effect) and with assistance from jet fans.

In both ventilation outlet and portal emissions scenarios, air quality assessment results show that emission levels (both inside and outside the tunnel) meet the NSW Environment Protection Authority air quality criteria, which is designed to protect human health.

Read EIS Chapter 9 – Air quality

Next - Traffic

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Traffic and Transport

Map layers

Construction sites footprint

Bus stops

Train stations

Assessed intersections

Assessed screenline locations

Travel study area

General

Transport for NSW acknowledges that the construction phase of the proposed Blackheath to Little Hartley Upgrade (the upgrade) would have traffic impacts on the surrounding road network.

Once the upgrade is completed, residents and businesses would benefit from the improved connection between Central West NSW and Sydney, reduced congestion, improved resilience and reliability.

The upgrade would reduce weekday traffic volumes by up to 60 per cent in Blackheath and nearly 80 per cent in Mount Victoria, substantially improving the accessibility and amenity of these townships.

Better connecting Central West NSW to Sydney is critical to the economic and regional development of communities along the highway and surrounding areas. The proposed upgrade would also improve freight accessibility through and within the mountains

Explore the EIS to see traffic impacts during construction and the improvements to traffic when the tunnel is operational.

While we are working

The Little Hartley construction compound would be the main site for tunnelling support activities (building and launching the tunnel boring machines and managing spoil) and as such, would experience a nine per cent change in overall traffic volumes on the Great Western Highway in the morning peak and a 13 per cent change in overall traffic volumes in the afternoon peak.

Trucks hauling spoil from tunnelling activities would travel west from Little Hartley along the Great Western Highway and therefore Medlow Bath, Blackheath and Mount Victoria would all experience a less than five per cent increase in overall traffic on the Great Western Highway in both the morning and afternoon peaks during construction.

The combination of reduced speed limits and additional construction traffic volumes would result in an increase to weekday peak hour travel times of about one minute in each direction during construction.

Reducing the impact of our work

A Construction Transport and Access Management Plan would be prepared to minimise and manage construction traffic and road safety impacts on other roads users, including pedestrians and cyclists.

Read EIS Chapter 8 – Traffic and transport

Next – Noise and Vibration

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Noise and vibration

Map layers

Construction sites footprint

Sensitive receivers

Noise logging locations

Noise catchment area

Construction vibration

Construction ground-borne noise

General

We have carried out a detailed noise and vibration assessment to identify potential impacts to the community during construction and operation of the upgrade, and have identified some ways to lessen those impacts.

Overall, the community would experience a reduction in noise over the long term. Noise levels along the existing highway between Blackheath and Little Hartley would reduce once the tunnels are complete as congestion and the volume of traffic and heavy vehicles would reduce.

Noise

The noise assessment used noise monitoring data and traffic surveys to model the changes in noise levels that would likely occur from construction and operation of the upgrade.

Through the noise assessments we identified residences and businesses (known as ‘sensitive receivers’) which are likely to be affected by noise at different stages of construction (site establishment, tunnel portal construction, tunnelling and associated works, surface road upgrades, operational facilities construction, and finishing works) and operation.

For more information on local noise impacts, please explore your suburb on the map.

Vibration

Most of the tunnel would be built using tunnel boring machines (TBMs). We have identified receivers that may experience some level of vibration during construction. These properties are generally near the tunnel exit points.

Even though some people may feel some temporary vibration during construction, our assessment found that vibration levels during construction would not exceed the criteria for what would cause structural damage.

When the tunnel is operational, no vibration would be felt by any receivers.

Reducing the impact of our work

We acknowledge that construction activities can be noisy. We would plan and carry out construction activities to minimise noise and vibration impacts on noise sensitive receivers by implementing measures which may include:

when possible, completing high noise generating activities before 10pm or limiting the high noise activities to no more than three hours at a time with at least one hour respite
loading and unloading deliveries as far away as possible from sensitive receivers
shielding dedicated loading and unloading areas if close to residents
arranging construction compounds to limit the need for reversing.

Read EIS Chapter 10 – Human health

Next – Landscape and visual amenity

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Landscape and visual amenity

Map layers

Construction sites footprint

Landscape

Landscape planting

Landscape planting (understory)

Land use

Community receivers

Social locality

Suburbs

Land use zoning

Bushfire prone land

General

We understand the upgrade is in a unique and sensitive landscape with areas of heritage and village character. By tunnelling we are able to minimise visual and landscape impacts, particularly avoiding direct and indirect impacts to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

The landscape and visual assessment identified potential landscape character and visual impacts of the upgrade during construction and operation, as well as mitigation measures to reduce these impacts.

The landscape and visual assessment considers the visual impact of the upgrade by analysing elements of the upgrade including the construction compounds, tunnel entry and exit points, and operational facilities.

Explore the various viewpoints of the upgrade on the map.

During construction

The most visible construction activities would likely include:

vegetation clearing and earthworks
construction of structures to support the permanent tunnel operational facilities and, potentially, tunnel ventilation systems
operation of heavy and/or light vehicles to bring in building materials and remove spoil
presence of visually prominent equipment, including cranes, roadheaders, tunnel boring machines and construction hoarding
assembly of tunnel boring machine and launch areas
lighting for night works

When the tunnel is open

The main visual impacts to landscape character would be from operational infrastructure such as tunnel portals, surface road upgrades and operational ancillary buildings.

Landscape design will incorporate treatments to reduce potential landscape character and visual impacts. These could include native and exotic plantings, facade finishes to building and tunnel structures and public art installations.

Read EIS Chapter 18 – Landscape and visual

Next - Groundwater and surface water

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Groundwater and surface water

General

Transport for NSW is highly experienced in building tunnels. By using the latest construction technology, potential impacts to groundwater and surface water can be minimised during construction, as well as when the tunnel is in operation.

Design choices to reduce our impact on groundwater

Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) were identified as the preferred tunnelling methodology. TBMs use a rotating cutter head which cuts through rock. Behind the cutter head is a chamber where the excavated rock is collected. As the TBM moves forward, a precast concrete lining is progressively installed in the excavated tunnel reducing the risk of groundwater related impacts.

Groundwater dependent ecosystem

Our biodiversity surveys identified several Groundwater dependent ecosystem (GDEs) within the study area. GDEs are communities of plants and animals that need groundwater, like wetlands or springs, to survive.

Three plant communities identified within the study area are associated with GDEs including:

Carex sedgeland of the slopes and tablelands
Tableland swamp meadow on impeded drainage sites of the western Sydney Basin Bioregion and South Eastern Highlands Bioregion
Monkey Gum—Eucalyptus blaxlandii shrubby open forest on basalt of the Sydney Basin.

Surface water

We are committed to improving the quality of water used for the project before it is discharged to the environment and reaches downstream catchments, particularly the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment.

Reducing the impact of our work

To protect surface and groundwater quality during construction, the contractor would be required to prepare and implement comprehensive erosion and sediment control measures, detailed in a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP), to make sure surface water run-off meets regulatory standards. Water quality would be maintained or improved, through measures which may include:

collection and treatment of surface water run-off at water treatment plants at each of the construction sites during construction, and at the operational water treatment plant at Little Hartley, prior to re-use or discharge
use of sediment basins, pollutant traps, drainage channels, flow diversion infrastructure and sediment fencing (straw bales or sandbags) to temporarily stabilise disturbed ground.

Read EIS Chapter 13 - Groundwater and geology

Next - Heritage

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Heritage

Map layers

Construction sites footprint

Aboriginal heritage

Aboriginal heritage – Survey footprint 2022

Aboriginal heritage – Survey footprint 2019-20

Study area (Archaeology)

Non-aboriginal heritage

LEP Local Heritage

Areas of archaeological potential

Study area (Non-Aboriginal heritage)

Nominated national heritage item

General information

We are committed to preserving the character of Blue Mountains communities and minimising impacts to heritage wherever possible. The entire Great Western Highway Upgrade Program is being designed to avoid impacts on the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

By tunnelling we are able to minimise surface impacts, particularly avoiding impacts to the Blackheath town centre which has many heritage listed items. Tunnelling also minimises potential indirect visual impacts to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

Protecting Aboriginal Heritage

An archaeological survey1 has been completed to assess whether there would be any likely impact to Aboriginal cultural heritage as a result of construction or operation of the proposed upgrade. Our assessment included desktop studies and field surveys in consultation with Registered Aboriginal Parties (RAPs).

We invited local Aboriginal organisations and advertised for local knowledge holders to become RAPs for the upgrade. Thirtyfour local knowledge holders notified Transport that they wished to take part in all formal consultation conducted with the Aboriginal community.

Although we know there are Aboriginal objects and places nearby, we did not identify any Aboriginal objects or places within the proposed Blackheath to Little Hartley construction footprint that would be impacted by the upgrade.

If any unknown or potentially significant Aboriginal artefacts are found during construction, we would stop work in the vicinity until we have completed the appropriate procedures for managing unexpected heritage finds.

Protecting non-Aboriginal heritage

The upgrade would not have a significant direct or indirect impact on the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area during construction or operation. Our heritage assessment did identify four non-Aboriginal heritage items that may be directly or indirectly impacted by the upgrade, including:

Greater Blue Mountains Area – Additional Values

The Blackheath and Soldiers Pinch construction compounds are partially located within the boundary of the Greater Blue Mountains Area—Additional Values. This area is not listed as a heritage item (but has been nominated for inclusion on the National Heritage List since 2005 and has not yet been assessed by the Australian Heritage Council). This area extends slightly beyond the World Heritage Listed Greater Blue Mountains Area. Impacts to this area would include vegetation clearing; however this impact is considered minor as we would minimise native vegetation clearing where reasonable and feasible. Both areas have been previously disturbed for other construction activities unrelated to the upgrade.

Mount Victoria Convict Stockade site

Mount Victoria Stockade at Little Hartley was built in the early 1830s to house convicts building Victoria Pass. The archaeological site is not a heritage-listed item; however, it has been assessed as potentially being of State significance. Finalisation of the design and a detailed archaeological investigation would confirm if the site would potentially be impacted during construction.

Plough Inn

Plough Inn was built around 1837 and was in operation by 1839. Now an archaeological site, the precise location of the Plough Inn is unknown; however, it is speculated that it was built opposite the Rosedale Inn, another heritage item. Depending on the former inn’s location, any archaeological deposits may have already been removed. Finalisation of the design and a detailed archaeological investigation would confirm if the site would potentially be impacted during construction.

Rosedale

Rosedale, formerly known as Victoria Inn, was built in 1839 and is a locally-listed heritage item fronting the Great Western Highway in Little Hartley. It would likely be indirectly visually impacted by the upgrade surface works, operational ancillary facilities and tunnel entry and exit points proposed at Little Hartley. Where feasible and reasonable, we would keep existing mature vegetation in place, or would look to plant additional vegetation to provide adequate screening of the upgrade.

Read EIS Chapter 16 – Aboriginal cultural heritage Read EIS Chapter 17 – Non-Aboriginal heritage

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Project overview

Construction

Biodiversity

Air quality

Traffic and transport

Noise and vibration

Landscape character and visual amenity

Groundwater and surface water

Heritage

General information

Key tunnel features

Program benefits

General

While we are working

Surface works

Construction hours

General information

Air quality during construction

Ventilation for the tunnels

General

While we are working

Reducing the impact of our work

General

Noise

Vibration

Reducing the impact of our work

General

During construction

When the tunnel is open

General

Design choices to reduce our impact on groundwater

Groundwater dependent ecosystem

Surface water

Reducing the impact of our work

General information

Protecting Aboriginal Heritage

Protecting non-Aboriginal heritage

Medlow Bath Consultation

Removal of traffic lights at Lancastrian Road intersection

Shared cycle and pedestrian pathways

Overview

Proposed route options for permanent shared cycle and pedestrian pathways

Temporary pedestrian and cycle paths during construction

Preserving open space

Tempe Dog Park

Land impacts

Environmental considerations

Project considerations

Airport East and North project

Reducing congestion on local roads

Botany Rail Line

Public transport

Connections to the Sydney motorway network

New connections to Sydney Airport terminals

Closure of Airport Drive

Increased capacity on new and existing roads

New Domestic terminals flyover

NSW Government infrastructure investments

Reducing trucks on local roads

Sydney Airport Ground Transport Interchange

Port Botany Rail Duplication

Proposed construction site

Proposed construction site

Traffic management

Preferred route

Staging of Airport Drive closure

Bridges and grade separations

The planning process

Environmental and social considerations

Airport overflow parking maintained

New Link Road

Virtual Information Sessions

Community Information Sessions

Katoomba Library

Lithgow Library Learning Centre

Oberon Library

Bathurst Regional Council

Orange City Library

Community Information Sessions

Great Western Highway upgrade - Contact us