A series of lane closures are scheduled on the M1 Princes Motorway at Mount Ousley from later this month to repair damage caused by last year’s record rainfall.
Transport for NSW (TfNSW) regional director south Sam Knight said a risk assessment has identified the need to complete the work under multiple full southbound closures of the M1 Mount Ousley Road.
“This is the safest approach for motorists and workers and will also allow more freedom of movement for the large number of construction vehicles required,” Knight said.
“To minimise impacts to motorists, the work will occur on five consecutive Sunday nights when general traffic volumes are lower. The work program will also incorporate two existing planned maintenance closures of Mount Ousley.”
Detours will be in place via Princes Highway Bulli Pass, however, heavy vehicles over 19 metres long will not be able to access Bulli Pass and are advised to delay their journey, said TfNSW.
The closure dates and times between Bulli Tops and Memorial Drive are:
- 8pm Sunday, August 20, to 4am Monday, August 21: southbound and a one-kilometre section of the northbound left-hand shoulder lane after New Mount Pleasant Road.
- 8pm Sunday, August 27 to 4am Monday, August 28: both directions
- 8pm Sunday, September 3 to 4am Monday, September 4: southbound
- 8pm Sunday, September 10 to 4am Monday, September 11: both directions
- 8pm Sunday, September 17 to 4am Monday, September 18: southbound
Knight said the repairs will restore full operations on Mount Ousley Road.
“These repairs have required detailed planning to ensure the highest levels of safety for workers and motorists throughout,” Knight said.
“Repairs to the road surface had to wait until work was completed on the installation of 12 pipes under the road, which will improve groundwater drainage and make the road more resilient to future extreme weather events.”
Knight said during the July 2022 rainfall events, landslip movement on Mount Ousley created damage to the southbound road shoulder.
“We initially implemented emergency road closures so crews could safely assess the damage and complete urgent repairs. This allowed us to minimise the long-term impact to motorists by only closing a 200-metre section of the far-left southbound shoulder lane,” Knight said.
“Crews have since been able to complete stage one of the repairs, which were carried out off the road and with minimal impact to motorists.”
Knight said the next stage of work involves reconstructing the damaged road pavement.