The Albanese Labor Government today announced an investment of an additional $25 million to plan future upgrades along the Barton Highway corridor.

The $25 million Barton Highway Upgrade Program – Future Stages – Planning project will support planning for future upgrades to the Barton Highway.

The Barton Highway has undergone significant upgrades over the past few years. The first stage of works opened in early 2024, and duplicated the highway from the NSW side of the ACT Border to Kaveneys Road in NSW. The first stage of works involved moving 254,000 cubic metres of earth, rolling 60,000 tonnes of new road surface and installing two kilometres of drainage work.

Detailed planning work to deliver Stage 2 of the Barton Highway upgrade is currently being finalised. It will extend duplication from Kaveneys Road towards Capricorn Place. It will also complete duplication across the ACT border.

Planning for future stages, supported by the newly announced $25 million, is scheduled to start later this year.

In total, the Australian has committed $203.6 million towards upgrading the Barton Highway.

In the 2025/26 Budget amongst the $17.1billion for new and existing road and rail infrastructure projects through the Infrastructure Investment Program, supporting critical planning, construction and delivery, there was an allocation of $50million towards upgrading the Monaro Highway in the Australian Capital Territory.
This will be used to upgrade the links to the Barton Highway and onto the Hume Hwy and Lachlan Valley Way into central NSW. It will also streamline the link into the Federal Highway and Hume Motorway into Sydney.
SEATS applauds this funding allocation which will enhance freight productivity between the major timber resources around Bombala and timber processors in Tumut.