The Rankin Park to Jesmond project is the fifth section of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass, which is a key route connecting the western suburbs of Newcastle. The project will involve building a 3.4 kilometre four-lane divided road to the west of the John Hunter Hospital, including:
a northern interchange at Newcastle Road
an interchange providing access to the John Hunter Hospital precinct
a southern interchange at Lookout Road
structures to improve 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.
Fulton Hogan Construction Pty Ltd has been engaged to finalise the design and construct the Rankin Park to Jesmond project.
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.
Early work to build the Shared Path Bridge at Jesmond begins
Property demolition and site clearing at New Lambton Heights begins
Shared Path Bridge at Jesmond completed
Southern utilities early work at New Lambton Heights begins
Contract awarded to Fulton Hogan Construction Pty Ltd for main bypass
Southern utilities early work completed
Site establishment for main bypass begins
Fauna habitat installation begins
Hollywood camp salvage begins
Major construction begins
Rankin Park to Jesmond opens to traffic
We are guests in the surrounding community and we understand that our work can often be impactful. We do our best to mitigate for noise, traffic and construction impacts where we can. All our work is planned and executed with the community and environment considered thoroughly.
Our standard construction hours are:
Day work
Monday to Friday between 7am and 6pm
Saturday between 8am to 5pm
High noise work
Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm
Saturday between 8am and 1pm
Conducted in blocks of no more than 3 hours, with at least a 1-hour respite between blocks for impacted residences.
Night work
During the project, some work will also be completed outside of our standard construction hours and the community will be notified.
Typically this will occur from Sunday to Thursday nights between 6pm and 7am.
For questions, concerns or to sign up for our email list for out of hours work notifications please email RP2JCommunity@fultonhogan.com.au or click here.
Work on the Rankin Park to Jesmond project is guided by a significant number of management plans. These documents steer and guide the work we do and help us remain compliant with safety, environment and contract requirements. A number of these management plans are required to be displayed publicly.
An Environmental Protection Licence (EPL) has been issued for the project to control the impacts of pollution. The EPL requires ongoing monitoring and reporting.
For copies of these management plans and monitoring reports please view the Project Documents for the Rankin Park to Jesmond project.
A key focus of the Rankin Park to Jesmond urban design and landscaping plan has been the integration of Aboriginal interpretation into the project.
We have collaborated with Saretta Art and Design to prepare the urban design, landscape design and develop ways to integrate Aboriginal cultural themes, stories, symbols and values into the project.
Key features will include:
Aboriginal interpretation trails with different themes relating to Aboriginal archaeological sites as well as trade routes
Aboriginal interpretation signage will be installed along the existing trails, based on the various themes to reinforce the connection to country and describe important sites and cultural references
Aboriginal artwork on key structural elements such as bridges, active transport underpasses, retaining walls.