Construction of the new $618 million Kempsey Bypass on the NSW Mid North Coast has moved a step closer with detailed planning and engineering work set to get underway on site this week.

This preconstruction work involves survey and geotechnical investigations, the preparation of detailed designs and the purchase of necessary properties.

A barge will also be anchored in the Macleay River near Frederickton to collect borehole samples in order to assess foundation conditions for the new bridge that will be built as part of this long overdue project.

We are determined to deliver this vital road project as quickly as possible, with full construction scheduled to start in early 2010.

The Kempsey Bypass is what the Rudd Labor Government’s Nation Building for Recovery strategy is all about. It will put 450 Australians to work building the transport infrastructure vital to our long term economic prosperity.

Once completed in mid-2014, this new section of the Pacific Highway will deliver safer driving conditions, cut travel times and take up to 2,000 trucks a day off the local streets of Kempsey.

The project will build a 14.5 kilometre dual carriageway bypass of Kempsey and include the construction of a new bridge over the Macleay River and interchanges near South Kempsey and Frederickton.

The existing Pacific Highway will be retained as a local road.

The Bypass was announced in last month’s Budget and will be funded from the Rudd Labor Government’s Building Australia Fund.

For more information about the Kempsey Bypass project, please call 1800 306 004 (toll free) or visit http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/pacific (click on Kempsey to Eungai upgrade).