The joint venture of Downer and Seymour Whyte has secured the A$450m ($336.4m) contract to carry out upgrade works on the Princes Highway at the province of New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

The upgrade works will be carried out on a 10.5km section of Princes Highway between Berry and Bomaderry.

Member for Kiama Gareth Ward and Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock stated that the upgrade works are expected to begin from the middle of this year.

Under the contract, the joint venture will build four lanes of new divided road from Mullers Lane at Berry to the Cambewarra Road roundabout at Bomaderry.

The scope of work also includes constructing temporary roads and other associated works to ensure safety of the motorists.

Furthermore, pedestrian safety works will also be carried out at multiple locations.

Ward said: “Once the upgrade between Berry and Bomaderry is completed, the Princes Highway will be two lanes in both directions between Waterfall and Jervis Bay Road, south of Nowra.”

“Once the upgrade between Berry and Bomaderry is completed, the Princes Highway will be two lanes in both directions between Waterfall and Jervis Bay Road, south of Nowra.”

The NSW Government has already approved A$19m ($14.2m) in this financial year for this project.

The project is expected to be completed by late 2022, subject to weather conditions.

After completion, the highway upgrade works to the north between Gerringong and Berry will commence.

Ward added: “The Princes Highway is a key South Coast route and it’s amazing to think once this project between Berry and Bomaderry is completed, more than 30km of road will have been upgraded since 2012.”

Pre-construction works of the project started in March this year and will be completed in the following months.

Ward stated that the NSW Government has invested around A$1bn ($750m) to refurbish the Princes Highway south of Wollongong.