Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) Government has allocated nearly A$1.5m ($1.07m) to improve traffic flow at Maitland roundabout.

The investment is intended to save travel times of motorists using the New England Highway, Cessnock Road and Church Street roundabout at Maitland.

In addition, the project will help cut congestion in rush-hour traffic peaks.

Parliamentary secretary for the Hunter region Scot MacDonald said: “Work will start in April and involves installing traffic lights on the eastbound approach to the roundabout to help reduce westbound queues.

“The traffic lights are expected to better manage traffic in the afternoon peak by providing more frequent gaps between vehicles, to allow westbound traffic to travel through the roundabout.”

“The traffic lights are expected to better manage traffic in the afternoon peak by providing more frequent gaps between vehicles to allow westbound traffic to travel through the roundabout.”

As part of the project, traffic queue detectors will be installed on the New England Highway westbound approach to activate the traffic lights in the afternoon peak.

It will help move westbound traffic via the roundabout more quickly. Beyond peak hours, the roundabout will operate normally.

The project also includes widening Cessnock Road to extend the left lane by approximately 100m to near the U-turn bay.

Liberal candidate for Maitland councillor Sally Halliday said: “This will improve traffic flow and reduce the queue length on Cessnock Road in the morning peak, by providing additional lane capacity for traffic travelling through the roundabout to Church Street.”

Roads and Maritime Services of the NSW Government will inform the community prior to work starts.