the effect of a bypass?

im looking at a town bypass project and Im a little confused as to the efffects of it

its a semi mining town, which has recently gained a fair bit of coverage,

I would have thought a bypass would kill the local economy?

local traders are fairly dependant on passing traffic etc, however, a lot of people say it will do good for people wanting to visit and to make it quieter again,
the bypass is only about 7km away and will still keep the traffic in the general region

I also found this link, but didnt order the CD

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/environment/heritage/rtaoralhistoryprogram/our_town_now.html

whats everyones experience on this?
 
im looking at a town bypass project and Im a little confused as to the efffects of it

its a semi mining town, which has recently gained a fair bit of coverage,

I would have thought a bypass would kill the local economy?

local traders are fairly dependant on passing traffic etc, however, a lot of people say it will do good for people wanting to visit and to make it quieter again,
the bypass is only about 7km away and will still keep the traffic in the general region

I also found this link, but didnt order the CD

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/environment/heritage/rtaoralhistoryprogram/our_town_now.html

whats everyones experience on this?

I work on bypass projects for a living. Every town I have seen has died off...

Mining towns may be different. Really depends on the benefit of a quicker route. In Sydney a quicker journey from a 'outer' suburb would help. A town in the middle of nowhere, so what if it shaves 6 mins off the journey, I still ain't driving 6 hrs to get there. Nobody will stop, they all go to the maccas/petrol station on the highway.
 
My friend works for the department of planning. She worked on a survey once for the RMS I believe, on the affects each bypass will have on a town.

I suspect one of those two government organisations will have a report available.
 
I work on bypass projects for a living. Every town I have seen has died off...

Mining towns may be different. Really depends on the benefit of a quicker route. In Sydney a quicker journey from a 'outer' suburb would help. A town in the middle of nowhere, so what if it shaves 6 mins off the journey, I still ain't driving 6 hrs to get there. Nobody will stop, they all go to the maccas/petrol station on the highway.

thtas what I would have thought unless there was a suffering tourism business, a typical example would be muswellbrook, its fairly multi industry, however mining has boomed recently, prices have already moved and now have stabled off, I cant see how a bypass would do any good for hte town, the traffic to the area is still there, a bypass would merely reduce traffic, for throughfare so hotels, cheap eats, pubs would suffer

in my opinion,
 
You referring to the hunter expressway?

thats one of the main ones im looking at,

the hunter express way is a bit different as it will further bring traffic into the area so I see that as a huge plus, but there is the muswellbrook bypass which I was more having a look at

just seems like bad news for the town

Plus there is a reference to muswellbrook in this months property magazine which makes it sound like its about to boom, when the truth couldnt be any further

in my opiniomn
 
I do a lot of work on bypass towns for the RMS.

There are a few different things to look at.

A place like Buladelah will become like Karuah. Very quiet and sleepy. Albeit with a bit more demand from local areas. There is no destination involved. It is just a service town.

Taree is doing ok despite being bypassed - but that is because it is a self-sufficient service town that looks after a wider area.

For a village like Johns River the bypass might actually create something of interest, provided that you can attract a small percentage of people off the road.

The Hunter Expressway is a bit different imo as places like Kurri etc are already a pain to get to, but people still travel through them.
 
Well each town along a bypass like the hunter will be impacted differently. The likes of Margaret Lomas and Terry Ryder have been talking up the hunter area for a while now.

IMO, I just don’t see it. I poked around for a month up there about a year ago and places like Kurri Kurri were already over-run with investors and prices seemed inflated. Also the high rentals everyone was screaming about as far as I could see was driven by the transient road/other work force.

Eg. I pay $130/week above what is standard where I live atm (not the hunter), that is because:
a) The number of AWESOME properties is limited, none of us would touch a 2 bedroom fibro with a granny flat per se
b) work was paying for it.
What will keep the prices that high once the bypass is finished... I don’t know, lot’s of my friends in mining related industries at the hunter are being sacked atm. I would imagine everyone left over will want to be in Newcastle itself???

As for the Muslebrook bypass... Just took a quick look, I don’t see it’s benefit to the surrounding towns.
 
I know that a number of mines are employing new env. scientists etc for establishing expansions and new mines.
 
Depends what draws people to the town. I live in Nowra on the south coast. 10 minutes to the north is Berry . There is a new bypass basically from gerringong to bomaderry ( north side of Nowra) berry will be bypassed but it has boutique style attractions that will draw people in so while numbers will drop. It will easily survive. Nowra will eventually be bypassed in about 10-20 years with another river crossing to the east or west. I hope Nowra developed and builds on its tourism before then( I think it will) because at the moment I don't think it has enough to draw people of the bypass and into town.
It is reducing the time from Sydney to Nowra as is the connection from the ACT to Nowra so that side of things improves.

So really it depends what town is being bypassed.

Cheers
 
Depends what draws people to the town. I live in Nowra on the south coast. 10 minutes to the north is Berry . There is a new bypass basically from gerringong to bomaderry ( north side of Nowra) berry will be bypassed but it has boutique style attractions that will draw people in so while numbers will drop. It will easily survive. Nowra will eventually be bypassed in about 10-20 years with another river crossing to the east or west. I hope Nowra developed and builds on its tourism before then( I think it will) because at the moment I don't think it has enough to draw people of the bypass and into town.
It is reducing the time from Sydney to Nowra as is the connection from the ACT to Nowra so that side of things improves.

So really it depends what town is being bypassed.

Cheers

Good example.

Those properties being sold near the Bypass at Berry are seeing significantly reductions in prices whilst those closer to the existing highway are still holding their own.

Nowra will hold its own as it is not reliant significantly of passing tourism.

You really need to have a good understanding on what economically is driving the suburb and that could be a number of factors.

Then if there is still interest, take a look at where the the works are to occur and work from there.
 
Good example.

Those properties being sold near the Bypass at Berry are seeing significantly reductions in prices whilst those closer to the existing highway are still holding their own.

Nowra will hold its own as it is not reliant significantly of passing tourism.

You really need to have a good understanding on what economically is driving the suburb and that could be a number of factors.

Then if there is still interest, take a look at where the the works are to occur and work from there.
I think you are right. Nowra is a service town and most of the jobs for the local area are in Nowra. The bypass will effect me. My PPOR is about 150 meters of a power corridor which is the preferred western bypass. Did my head in running the pros and cons. Truth is its far away that only before the construction will there be value issues. After it will not be a big deal. Looking at current values on the existing highway. They are ok considering there age so a bypass in 10 years is not worth worrying about( or I could move in to one of my other Nowra properties)
Lots of variables. What's in the town. What employs people's . What draws people in on the weekend.
And another is how the bypass is integrated with the town. A bit of visual appeal from the bypass to the bypassed town works wonders.
Cheers
 
The Hume has by-passed many towns in the last few years, some have been casualties others barely affected. Towns like Tarcutta, have died as they were a major fuel stop so retail has been impacted severely, Goulburn on the other hand is a major inland centre, the impact of the bypass was felt at Maccas/Big Sheep and the take-aways on the main street (esp for the ski-season travellers) but the town survives whereas Albury/Wodonga has barely felt the pinch as these are cities in themselves not reliant on iterant travelllers.
 
The Hume has by-passed many towns in the last few years, some have been casualties others barely affected. Towns like Tarcutta, have died as they were a major fuel stop so retail has been impacted severely, Goulburn on the other hand is a major inland centre, the impact of the bypass was felt at Maccas/Big Sheep and the take-aways on the main street (esp for the ski-season travellers) but the town survives whereas Albury/Wodonga has barely felt the pinch as these are cities in themselves not reliant on iterant travelllers.

I agree, it all depends on how it is designed/located,
If its a nothing town and all the traffic is going straight through the centre, then that's going to bring in all the trucks and improve the local economy,

If the bypass is going to move the traffic away like mussel rook, then it's going to kill the local economy

That is unless the towns in question are tourist destinations or not,


So you guys think Nowra is going to suffer because of this bypass, was a bit surprised,

I think mussel brook will suffer, I think the hunter express way will help the entire area,

I don't think it will do much for goulburn as I think since all the traffic already goes through goulburn anyway, it may increase chances of infrastructure in the long term for goulburn
 
I would have thought that for Goulburn and Albury that they are much better places for the locals, now that there is not the huge amount of passing traffic through the centre of town.

Goulburn always scared me when driving before the bypass- the locals had country driving habits with city volumes. More than once I had cars pull out in front without due care.

The big merino in Goulburn shifted closer to the highway. I don't know how much that improved his business.
 
I would have thought that for Goulburn and Albury that they are much better places for the locals, now that there is not the huge amount of passing traffic through the centre of town.

Goulburn always scared me when driving before the bypass- the locals had country driving habits with city volumes. More than once I had cars pull out in front without due care.

The big merino in Goulburn shifted closer to the highway. I don't know how much that improved his business.
 
The Hume has by-passed many towns in the last few years, some have been casualties others barely affected. Towns like Tarcutta, have died as they were a major fuel stop so retail has been impacted severely, Goulburn on the other hand is a major inland centre, the impact of the bypass was felt at Maccas/Big Sheep and the take-aways on the main street (esp for the ski-season travellers) but the town survives whereas Albury/Wodonga has barely felt the pinch as these are cities in themselves not reliant on iterant travelllers.

Yep. Buladhelah and Karuah will or have gone the same way.

Nowra is like Taree - a regional service centre and has enough momentum to survive the bypass.
 
I think mussel brook will suffer, I think the hunter express way will help the entire area,


Why would a bypass have an effect on Muswellbrook? All it would effect would be a few servos. Muswellbrook is big enough that the maccas and KFC and other food places are not reliant on the highway. Muswellbrook and it's areas main activity is mining, and catering for miners, plus the two power stations. Then there is the horsestuds and agriculture, especially dairying.

Most rural towns have real industry going on, not like the cities nowdays that are mostly just service industries and tourism. If you want my opinion, a highway bypass would improve Muswellbrook if anything. It will unclog the town centre. They could get rid of some traffic lights, perhaps even every traffic light, [theres only a couple] and replace with roundabouts and no more flippen trucks going through.


See ya's.
 
Last edited:
Buladhelah and Karuah were always highway towns very dependent on travellers passing through. I always stop at Karuah on the way up the coast. It's a ghost town, but I like that. That park on the river near the bridge is a great place to stop for something to eat - I'm now at the age where I pack food before I head off because I hate the stuff sold at servos.

On a road trip food tangent...
My elderly Greek neighbour often gives us food when we're heading off somewhere - spanikopita, stuffed capsicums etc. I wrap them in strong alfoil, open the bonnet of the car, and stick them somewhere that's going to get hot. Then when I stop, I've got a hot meal - and the occasional bystander who thinks I'm a nut case.
 
Back
Top