Sideling route opening this month
• When the Sideling Road reopens travellers will experience the work done on widening a large section of stage one. Image Jeff Jennings.
February 15, 2023
By Taylor Clyne
After four months of closure due to a significant landslip the popular Sideling route has officially been given a re-opening date of Monday February 27.
The announcement came after Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Michael Ferguson made a special visit to the worksite on Sunday morning to meet with contracts Fulton Hogan.
“Our crews have been working hard on multiple landslip sites and have identified further work that needs to be completed before the road can reopen,” he said.
Fulton Hogan and a number of subcontractors including Jamie Goss and Brad Gerke have been working seven days a week repairing the landslips and clearing for the new road re-development – which is a separate project.
Mr Ferguson said the repair job is nearly complete and planning to open slightly ahead of schedule, weather permitting.
“I’ve seen many road projects and repairs, but I must say that I was thoroughly impressed with the scale and number of these repairs.
“Photos don’t do justice to the heights of the new retaining walls, which are built with careful deep excavation, placement of gabion baskets loaded with rock and backfilled with new road base material.
“Often underground drain services are installed – in far better condition that they were previous.
“The works have required the construction of a temporary access requiring more gabion baskets to be added to the wall to support where the road surface will be laid on top,” Mr Ferguson explained.
Once the road is re-opened travellers will too be able to experience and see the gravity of where the $120 million re-development project is at.
In short, a lot of rock has been moved, it's jaw dropping.
“The current works involve upgrading stage one the 4.5-kilometre section of the Tasman Highway from Corkerys Road to Whish-Wilson Road, Springfield.
“Works on this section include road widening, improvements to the road base, new stopping bays, drainage works and safety improvements.
“When local residents start driving on the Sideling in coming weeks, they will be amazed at the scale and the quality of the much wider road as it climbs the windy Eastern side travelling up to the lookout.
“The project will support economic activity in the region by improving access to key freight hubs and reducing travel times and costs for freight operators by upgrading the road to accommodate B-Double trucks.
“It will also improve safety for all road users and support the growth of the visitor economy in the region,” he said.
The first stage is expected to be finished by Fulton Hogan in mid 2024 before a tender will go out for stage two.
This is expected to be advertised in mid-2023 with construction to commence in late-2023.