Port of Newcastle to Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone

In mid-2025, the locations of 8 new pullover bays on the Port to REZ route between Newcastle and Elong Elong in the Central-West were shared.

The new pullover bays will complement existing facilities along the road network and provide motorists with an opportunity to safely pass OSOM vehicles.

Construction of 6 pullover bays will start in 2026. We will continue to assess the location of 2 additional pullover bays - one in Merriwa near Pembroke Road and one on Wybong Road at Hollydeen – with construction to be considered after further consultation. The pullover bay assessment considered road traffic conditions, travel times, average speeds, driver fatigue management requirements, passing lane requirements, overnight rest places, stopping places for conducting load checks and completing travel diaries, and school times in rural towns.

The purpose of the assessment was to identify suitable locations for OSOM vehicles to pull over based on:

• where OSOM transportation is required to stop for fatigue management and overnight rest in accordance with the Heavy Vehicle (Fatigue Management) National Regulation (NSW)
• opportunities for pullover bays to let motorists pass based on a 10-minute traffic delay nominated threshold, in accordance with Transport for NSW Technical Direction – Traffic Control.

The new pullover bay locations aim to keep general traffic delays resulting from OSOM transportation to under 10 minutes.

This 10-minute delay refers to the time a general road user may be delayed by a single OSOM vehicle when unable to pass it on the road. Existing facilities would be utilised for fatigue management and overnight rest.

The new pullover bays will complement existing facilities along the road network, already used for fatigue management and to provide opportunities for traffic to pass.

Existing facilities include formalised heavy vehicle rest stops, overtaking lanes, wide pavement areas at intersections and existing gravel bays.

View the designs for the upgrades and pullover bays below.