Great Western Highway's heaviest traffic days predicted, Hartley plan in place

Transport for NSW has crunched the historical traffic numbers and says the busiest day for westbound travel from Sydney towards Lithgow is likely to be December 27.

For those heading eastbound from this region towards Sydney, the busiest day will be at the end of the holidays, on January 28.

As the Great Western Highway prepares for one of its many annual traffic tests, Transport for NSW is warning that it will again hold vehicles at Hartley if traffic queuing begins eastbound at Mount Victoria.

Under a Traffic Management Plan, motorists are held at Hartley to prevent further congestion and a start/stop movement up Victoria Pass.

Vehicles are then released in small groups, allowing them to travel up Victoria Pass to prevent further delays in the event of breakdowns and to avoid nose-to-tail crashes, according to Transport for NSW.

As the summer holiday travel season begins, drivers are also being reminded that some roads remain affected by flooding from 2022.

While these roads are open to traffic, with all repair work ceasing over the holiday period, people should exercise extra caution while travelling through the area, according to Transport for NSW.

As well as the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass, this includes Jenolan Caves Road and Bells Line of Road at Mount Tomah (where slope repair work began earlier this year).

The Great Western Highway has had another troubled year, which included being closed near Mount Victoria for almost 24 hours in late September after a truck and car crash; being closed for hours at Katoomba in July due to a police operation; and being affected twice in less than a day by separate crashes at Blackheath this week.

Nationals politicians and now-independent Calare MP Andrew Gee continue to exchange angry words with state Labor over the aborted duplication of the highway from Lithgow to Katoomba, including a proposed tunnel.