The 400m stretch, located between Turners Lane and Wileys Creek, was set to be the first major traffic switch on the Berry to Bomaderry upgrade, to allow for workers to start building bridges over Wileys Creek and over a Wileys Creek overflow on the existing highway.

The new sidetrack became operational in mid-December, but only for a very brief period. The road is now closed, and undergoing further maintenance so it can again be used once again. 

“It’s in the process of being fixed,” Kiama MP Gareth Ward said. 

“Obviously we need to build that bridge, it’s the largest component of the project, but sometimes the roads don’t come up the way you’d like them, but we will make sure we get it there.” 

Mr Ward also assured motorists the setback wouldn’t impact on completion times. 

At present there are signs near the sidetrack advising motorists to pay attention to the road not the roadwork. Mr Ward said this was part of the NSW government’s push to bring down the number of motorist fatalities. 

“The measures we are engaging in are working because we’ve seen a 56 per cent reduction between 2017 and 2018 in fatalities - so what were are doing is actually working,” he said. 

“That includes those areas where conditions do change, making sure people are aware of those changing conditions.”