Farley Urban Release Area
The Farley URA has access to the broader road network onto the New England Highway west of Maitland and our assessment investigated the impacts of the opening of the Hunter Expressway on traffic flows along the prior corridor and model the critical intersection providing access to the URA. The opening of the Hunter Expressway between the M1 Motorway at Seahampton and the New England Highway at Branxton resulted in significant changes to traffic flows along the New England Highway, the previous east-west main arterial road between Newcastle and the upper Hunter Valley. Intersection performance required both Sidra and Paramics modelling due to the location of adjacent signalised intersections and the impacts of these on the performance of the proposed connection with the results demonstrating that the initial stage of development could occur without the need for expensive road infrastructure upgrades.