Great Western Highway shut in both directions due to defect at Victoria Pass bridge
Eastbound lanes at Victoria Pass were shut on Thursday after damage was detected. (Supplied: Blackheath and District Chamber of Commerce)
In short:
The Great Western Highway, linking Sydney to the state's west, is shut after damage to a 19th-century bridge was discovered.
Over the weekend the eastbound lanes were shut but overnight on Sunday further cracks and movement were identified, forcing the closure of the westbound lanes.
What's next?
Geotechnical crews remain on the scene conducting assessments and emergency repairs, but the timeline for reopening is unclear.
The main road linking Sydney to western New South Wales has shut after cracks were detected in a bridge built by convicts.
The Great Western Highway is closed in both directions and there is no timeline for when it will reopen.
Initially, it was set to be affected for four days.
Transport for NSW (TfNSW) said it was "an evolving and complex situation".
On Thursday, eastbound lanes at Victoria Pass, near Little Hartley, were closed when damage was detected in the road surface of Mitchell's Causeway, known as The Convict Bridge.
But overnight on Sunday, westbound lanes were also closed after geotechnical crews identified major issues.
Parts of the Greater Western Highway have been closed due to surface damage (Supplied: Transport for NSW)
Deputy secretary for road maintenance and resilience Matt Fuller said assessment teams had been working over the weekend to determine the risk.
"We've identified further cracks in the pavement and our geotechnical information and monitoring has confirmed there's movement in the road's substructure," he said.
The heritage structure was built by convicts in the 1830s and forms part of a steep, windy thoroughfare used by thousands of vehicles daily.
"Given those sensitivities and obviously with the overriding consideration of safety, we've taken the precaution to close both lanes," Mr Fuller said.
The Convict Bridge at Mitchell's Causeway was built in the 1830s. (Supplied: Blue Mountains Historical Society archives)
"We understand that's going to be frustrating for motorists and we certainly appreciate their patience and understanding."
Motorists travelling eastbound towards Sydney are being diverted through Lithgow via Chifley Road to the Bells Line of Road or the Darling Causeway.
People travelling westbound are being detoured along the Darling Causeway at Mount Victoria to the Bells Line of Road and Chifley Road.
Roadworks are also taking place on the diversion roads, which is adding to congestion.
About 11,000 vehicles travel on the Great Western Highway between Little Hartley and Lithgow each day, according to TfNSW.
About 1,800 of them are heavy vehicles.
The closure is a major problem for truck drivers, with restrictions on heavy vehicles through the main street of Lithgow.
The Great Western Highway is shut from Lithgow, with access allowed to residents only. (Supplied)
NSW Regional Roads and Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison said that on Saturday, engineers had been feeling positive the road would reopen by Tuesday.
"But last night they saw some cracking actually opening ... they could see it visually that there was opening cracks and they were quite concerned about that," Ms Aitchison said.
"While that's happening, while there's still movement on the slope, we have to use an abundance of caution."
Political headache
The need to improve the road link to the state's west has been a long-running political issue that locals have been dealing with.
Bathurst MP Paul Toole has been lobbying for major upgrades to the Great Western Highway for years. (ABC Central West: Lani Oataway)
Shadow Minister for Regional Roads and Transport Paul Toole said commuters had reported having one to two hours added to their trip due to the diversions and congestion.
"It's caused major confusion and chaos," Mr Toole said.
"That impacts on productivity, it impacts on people having appointments and getting to Sydney, missing timelines they require."
As the state member for Bathurst, Mr Toole has been critical of the state government for abandoning the NSW Nationals' plans for an 11-kilometre Great Western Highway Tunnel.
From Blackheath to Little Hartley, it would have traversed the land beneath Victoria Pass.
"We saw the federal and state Labor governments rip $4.5 billion out of any of the upgrades or work that was required for the tunnel on that section of the road," he said.
The tunnel itself had not been funded or definitely costed under the NSW Coalition, but was estimated to have a price tag of $8 billion.
The National Party announced an 11-kilometre tunnel from Blackheath to Little Hartley in 2019. (Supplied: Transport for NSW)
In 2023, when the state Labor Party vowed to pause the project, it said the cost had blown out beyond that to about $1 billion per kilometre for the tunnel.
But Mr Toole said the state government had not come up with a viable alternative, which was proving to be a critical error.
"We're not seeing any improvements. We're continually seeing the road closed week after week," he said.
"We need to make sure that we have a road corridor that is fit for standard, but is also going to continue to meet the growing needs and demands of our communities."
Emergency and urgent roadworks have been taking place on the Victoria Pass since Thursday. (Supplied: Live Traffic)
The state government's recently released White Paper for Sydney to the Central West set out its plan for the road corridors.
In it, Ms Aitchison described the former Coalition's plans for the tunnel as a "fantasy".
“They announced a mega-project they never properly funded, never finished planning and never intended to deliver," she said.
"Then they walked away, leaving the Blue Mountains and Central West to deal with the consequences."
The white paper instead lays out other road upgrades, speed limit changes, making the roads more resilient, and improving rail services and freight efficiency.