Concept design

The concept design for the Woolgoolga to Wells Crossing section of the Pacific Highway upgrade is on display for community comment until Friday, 23 May 2008. Information on the concept design is available in the April 2008 community update. This update is available as a PDF file from the public information section of this website.

Development of the concept design

The development of the concept design for the Woolgoolga to Wells Crossing project is documented in the Concept Design Report which is available as a PDF from the public information section of this website.

The concept design development has considered:

• Community feedback from the preferred route display.
• Ongoing consultation with stakeholders (affected landowners, government agencies and local authorities).
• Preferred route field investigations (geotechnical, ground survey, heritage and ecology).
• Traffic modelling.
• Hydraulic modelling of the Corindi Creek floodplain and other smaller local catchments.
• Value engineering.

The concept design

The concept design is a 27km dual carriageway upgrade of the Pacific Highway connecting to the northern end of the proposed Sapphire to Woolgoolga upgrade at Arrawarra Road to existing highway at Bald Knob Tick Gate Road at the northern end. The proposed upgrade has a minimum 1 in 100 year flood immunity and has been developed to allow for future widening to six lanes when needed. It comprises the following key features:

• One local road underpass.
• One local road overpass.
• Three cross drainage bridges.
• Flood alleviation bridging and culverts across the Corindi floodplain.
• One local road diversion.
• Seven service roads.
• Numerous cross drainage and flood alleviation culverts, many of which would also act as fauna underpasses.

Highway access arrangement and interchanges

Highway access arrangements for this section of the highway include:

• Left-in left-out intersections.
• Right-in intersections across the median.
• U-turn facilities.
• Emergency crossover and U-turn facility.

These are shown on the map inside the community update.

A grade-seperated interchange is proposed near Arrawarra Beach Road. This interchange would be built as part of the Sapphire to Woolgoolga Pacific Highway upgrade project.

Service roads

Direct property access to the highway would be rationalised. Service roads would provide access points to the highway for a number of properties at:

• McPhillips Road.
• Lemon Tree Road.
• Luthers Road.
• Eggins Drive.

Changes to the highway alignment

Changes to the highway alignment have occured following consultation with stakeholders, property owners, and comments received since the display of the preferred route. These include:

• Alignment changes in the Luthers Road and Halfway Creek areas to minimise impact on residential properties.
• Alignment refined to minimise impact on Wells Crossing Floar Reserve.
• Upgrading of Eggins Drive to a through road connecting to Corindi Beach via Tasman Street.