The Thornton Road Bridge duplication project is entering its next major phase, with demolition of the original rail bridge beneath the existing 2010 bridge set to begin tomorrow, Saturday 16 May 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The work will take place during a planned 72-hour rail possession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thornton Road is a key crossing over the Main North railway line, linking local communities to the M1 Pacific Motorway, Pacific Highway and Hunter Expressway. It is also one of the region\u2019s key flood-free transport corridors during major weather events.
Maitland has experienced repeated severe flooding events in recent years and this bridge forms one of the only flood free access routes between the northern suburbs of Maitland and Newcastle, Sydney and the East Coast. During these events, traffic has often ground to a halt.
The duplication of the bridge will help future-proof this critical transport and flood resilience corridor – improving traffic flow, safety and connectivity for the 24,500 motorists who use this road everyday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The original Thornton Bridge was replaced in 2010, with plans at the time for a future duplication. However, the duplication was later cancelled by the former Liberal and National Government, despite continued population growth and increasing demand on the corridor.
Instead, the former government removed the cap on development north of the bridge in 2012 allowing more homes to be built without committing more funding to significant infrastructure upgrades in the area until 2022.
The new bridge, expected to begin construction at the end of 2026, will provide two lanes in each direction and improve access across the Main North railway line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early work began in April 2025, including establishment of\u202fa pedestrian\u202fdetour and a temporary site compound.
Transport for NSW has contacted nearby residents and businesses about the demolition work scheduled across the weekend.
Anyone with questions or concerns is encouraged to contact Transport for NSW directly on 1800 644 812 and TRB@transport.nsw.gov.au:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other investments in Thornton road network: \u00a0
\u00b7 Traffic lights to the north of the bridge at Railway Avenue and Glenroy Street were installed in February 2021, leading to a double right hand turn that\u00a0requires motorists to merge\u00a0into one lane\u00a0immediately\u00a0before\u00a0they can access\u00a0the current\u00a02010 bridge.\u00a0\u00a0
\u00b7 The NSW Government announced $9.5\u00a0million\u00a0from the Housing Acceleration Fund to new traffic lights at Government Road and Raymond Terrace Road in May 2022.\u00a0
\u00b7 The Albanese Government, under the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program, and Maitland City Council are each contributing over $3.74 million towards the $7.5 million duplication of Haussman Drive between Raymond Terrace Road and Taylor Avenue, expanding the road to two lanes each way.\u00a0
\u00b7 The Minns Labor\u00a0Government and Council are also investing another $6.9 million to construct a roundabout at the intersection of Haussman Drive and Taylor Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Member for Maitland,\u00a0Jenny Aitchison\u00a0said:\u00a0 \u00a0
\u201cThornton has been the fastest growing area in the state for\u00a010 years, and it is good to see that after\u00a0more than\u00a0a\u00a0lost decade of Liberal and National neglect, work will\u00a0commence\u00a0on this\u00a0long promised\u00a0project to relieve congestion.\u00a0
\u201cIn every regional community, there\u00a0are one or more roads\u00a0people depend on when disaster strikes. The road that stays open when others go under, the road families rely on to get home safely, evacuate, or stay connected during a flood.\u00a0\u00a0
\u201cFor\u00a0people\u00a0living\u00a0on\u00a0either side of the railway between\u00a0East Maitland\u00a0through to\u00a0Millers Forest,\u00a0that\u00a0vital connector\u00a0road is Thornton Road.\u00a0
\u201cLocal people have shared their safety concerns about this issue, and I am pleased to see the Minns Government getting on with the job of improving safety and infrastructure\u00a0for residents living on the northern side of the bridge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Thornton Road Bridge duplication project is entering its next major phase, with demolition of the original rail bridge beneath the existing 2010 bridge set to begin tomorrow, Saturday 16 May 2026. The work will take place during a planned 72-hour rail possession. Thornton Road is a key crossing over the Main North railway line, linking local … Continue reading “Out with the old: Thornton Bridge major upgrade underway”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38940"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38941,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38940\/revisions\/38941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}