Since it began operating yesterday (April 29), the new $11 million inspection station on the Golden Highway has already carried out nine heavy vehicle checks – with one deemed to be non-compliant.
When details first emerged about the new Ballimore Heavy Vehicle Safety Station – located about 5.5 kilometres east of Ballimore between Dubbo and Dunedoo, along the Golden Highway – the state and federal government had jointly committed $7 million.
Now that the site is complete, it’s been revealed that the initial figure has skyrocketed by an additional $4 million.
Big Rigs contacted Transport for NSW (TfNSW) for details about the spend.
“Work to prepare the greenfield site for the new Heavy Vehicle Safety Station at Ballimore was completed by the end of 2023, while the installation and commissioning of the station facilities and technologies were completed in late 2024 and final fit-out and operational readiness completed by April 2025 ready for testing,” a TfNSW spokesperson said.
TfNSW continued that the initial budget of $7 million provided for the work carried out on site. “An additional $4 million funded the infrastructure and technology to support heavy vehicle compliance monitoring, bringing the total investment to $11 million jointly funded by the Australian ($3.7 million) and NSW ($7.3 million) governments.
“The infrastructure and technology to support heavy vehicle compliance monitoring includes the weighbridge, office and amenities, lighting for night work, electronic speed reduction to 80 km/h, electronic station open/closed signage, electronic vehicle must enter signage, and highway avoidance cameras.”
Member of the NSW Legislative Council and advocate for regional NSW, Mark Banasiak MP, took to social media to share his concerns over the hefty price-tag of the new site.
“While in Dubbo over the weekend I decided to follow up on questions I asked the regional transport minister regarding $11 million being spent on a heavy vehicle checking station, that also involved demolishing vital rest stops in the area,” he said.
“Truck drivers informed me it was essentially a couple of portable sheds and a weigh pad, and they were not wrong.”
According to Banasiak, the inspection station wouldn’t be able to fit more than two B-doubles at a time.
“Disappointing the government has prioritised investment in revenue raising over real measures that improve safety like improving rural road conditions and having well designed and adequate rest stops,” he continued.
The new inspection station will be operated by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR).
The Ballimore location was chosen as the Golden Highway is a key regional route linking the New England Highway in the Hunter Valley to the Newell Highway at Dubbo. It sees thousands of local, tourist and freight vehicles each day.
It is also an important link between the state’s central west and the Port of Newcastle, attracting significant heavy vehicle traffic.
This is the first inspection station to be built on the Golden Highway. It will target the enforcement of heavy vehicles travelling this route, focusing on areas that include heavy vehicle overloading, fatigue-related heavy vehicle crashes and the risk of non-compliant vehicles travelling to Dubbo.
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