Transport for NSW (Transport) is proposing a road bypass of Milton and Ulladulla (the project). The project is in the Shoalhaven Local Government Area (LGA), about 200 kilometres south of Sydney and 60 kilometres north of Batemans Bay.
The objectives of the project are to:
- Improve network safety for all transport modes and customers.
- Improve transport network efficiency and connectivity to support regional economic development, tourism and freight.
- Improve transport network resilience.
- Enhance the amenity and liveability of Milton, Ulladulla and connected communities.
- Allow the separation of local and through trips and reduce heavy vehicle movements within the Milton and Ulladulla town centres.
Additionally, the project aims to respect both the local community and the environment in the project area.
The project largely follows the existing Shoalhaven Local Environment Plan 2014 (Shoalhaven LEP) corridor (which is zoned SP2 Infrastructure), facilitating several potential connections to service the townships of Milton and Ulladulla (refer to Attachment A). The northern extent of the project is at approximately 150.4236041°E 35.2750187°S and the southern extent is at approximately 150.4518332°E 35.3855658°S. The project is about 13 kilometres long.
Key features of the project include:
- A road network bypassing Milton and Ulladulla town centres
- A northern connection to the existing Princes Highway near Little Forest Road, Little Forest
- A central connection linking to the existing Princes Highway via an extension of Bishop Drive, Ulladulla
- A southern connection to the existing Princes Highway near Canberra Crescent, Ulladulla.
The project is subject to assessment by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) via an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for State Significant Infrastructure under Division 5.2 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act).
The indicative project and disturbance area is 326 hectares of which about 146 hectares is native vegetation and about 1.5 hectares is Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) listed threatened ecological community (applying a 15 metre buffer to mapped vegetation). The project will be subject to further design development during the preparation of the EIS to avoid and minimise impacts on native vegetation, and an avoidance area and retention area may be identified at that time. The project area, disturbance footprint and area of native vegetation impact is expected to be reduced significantly during further design development. A separate area (about 13,750 square metres) within the industrial area on Blackburn Road at Ulladulla has been identified as a potential compound / stockpile location. This land is cleared.
Transport does not consider the proposed action to be part of a larger action for the purposes of section 74A of the EPBC Act. The proposed action is not part of a staged development or related to any other current referrals in the region. While the project forms part of the Princes Highway upgrade program (PHup), each project in the PHup is a discrete standalone project, with their own funding, schedule and project objectives. Other projects under the PHup have been or would be subject to separate environmental assessment for each project. The proposed action specifically relates to the bypass of Milton and Ulladulla, which is a standalone project with individual funding, project specific objectives and anticipated benefits.
Completed or in construction projects along this section (Nowra to Victorian Border) of the Princes Highway include: (refer also to Attachment B):
- Batemans Bay Bridge replacement (opened mid-2022, referral not required).
- Termeil Creek upgrade (opened mid-2016, referral not required).
- Burrill Lake Bridge replacement (opened March 2018, referral not required).
- Nowra Bridge (opened late 2023, minor works continuing, referral not required).
- Jervis Bay Road intersection upgrade (in construction, referral not required) - Part of PHup
Other PHup projects in planning are (refer also to Attachment B):
- Nowra bypass (planning approval pathway yet to be determined)
- Jervis Bay Road to Hawken Road
- Hawken Road to Sussex Inlet Road
There have also been several other Princes Highway improvement projects completed on sections of the Highway to the north of Nowra which are not part of the PHup.
Key construction stage activities associated with the proposed action are detailed in Section 5.3.1 of the Princes Highway Milton Ulladulla bypass - Scoping Report (Att N, Section 5.3.1, pp42) with native vegetation clearing and earthworks being the main sources of potential environmental impacts.
Key operation stage activities associated with the proposed action are detailed in Section 5.3.2 (Att N, pp42) of the Scoping Report with the presence of the road formation, drainage and maintenance activities being the main sources of potential environmental impacts.
Potential construction and operation stage environmental impacts (including on Commonwealth listed threatened species and communities) are reviewed in Chapter 7 of the Scoping Report (Att N, pp.55, see p65 for Biodiversity).