Planning is underway for a major upgrade of the Bruxner Highway between Goonellabah and Wollongbar.

Transport for NSW North Region Director, Anna Zycki, said the Australian Government had allocated $6.81 million and the NSW Government $1.7 million to assess options to improve this increasingly busy and important link between Lismore and the coast.

“Lismore is an important regional administrative centre and is increasingly providing services like health, education and governance to the ever-growing coastal communities around Ballina, Byron Bay and Lennox Head,” Ms Zycki said.

“As these coastal centres grow, the number of customers travelling between the coast and Lismore is increasing.

“The aim is to create a transport network that facilitates access to regional centres surrounding Lismore by increasing network capacity to meet network growth and improve road transport efficiency, productivity and reliability.

“A key section of the highway is between Sneaths Road, Wollongbar, and Kadina Street, Goonellabah, which has a fatal and serious injury crash rate that is more than eight times higher than similar roads across the State and we must bring this down.

“We will investigate a range of options including the construction of a section of dual carriageway on a new alignment between the two centres.

"During the planning process we will look at how the highway connects with other sections of the road network and how construction might be staged.”

Ms Zycki said Transport for NSW had been planning improvements along the full length of the Bruxner Highway following the development of a comprehensive highway corridor strategy.

“Safety and the efficient movement of traffic are the key considerations,” she said.

She said the Goonellabah to Wollongbar section of the proposed upgrade was still in planning, so no construction timeframe or budget had been set.

“We will continue to progress the project and present a preferred option to the community in the coming months to view and provide feedback,” she said.