Slowly but surely – and perhaps not before time – improvements are being made to rest areas up and down the country.
In New South Wales, for example, work to upgrade two rest areas on the Newell Highway at Tycannah, south of Moree, has just begun.
The existing rest areas at Tycannah service the major long-haul interstate freight route linking Melbourne and Brisbane but currently have no toilets and no turning lanes.
The upgrades will include a reconfiguration of the rest areas to better accommodate extra-long vehicles, and also deceleration lanes at the entry of the rest areas to improve safety.
Separate caravan parking will be provided in both the northbound and southbound rest areas which also provides separate parking for light and heavy vehicles.
Many of the newer rest areas, like this one on the Hunter Expressway near Newcastle in NSW, have clearly separated areas for trucks and caravans. PIC: Cizza
The northbound rest area will also be extended by 150 metres as part of the work.
Work on the rest area upgrades is expected to take six months to complete.
Chair of the Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Steering Committee, Senator Glenn Sterle, said the improvement to rest areas would ensure motorists have access to safe, modern and accessible facilities along key freight routes.
“While this investment primarily caters for our essential truckers, this project will also provide practical rest area facilities and separate parking for light traffic and tourists towing caravans,” he said.
This announcement comes off the back of the recent opening of the Spring Creek rest area, about 12 kilometres north of Narrabri on the Newell Highway.
The Tycannah rest areas upgrade work is receiving $2.4 million in funding from the NSW government, and $9.6 million in funding through the Australian Government’s Heavy Vehicle Rest Area initiative under the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program.
Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, said it was an investment in safer, upgraded rest areas to support the people and freight that keep the north-west moving.
“These upgrades support a more efficient road network and encourage drivers to take proper breaks on long trips, meaning their journeys are safer and they get home to loved ones,” she said.
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I own a motorhome that is registered under the national truck legislation and I flat tow a car. I’m licensed to drive under the heavy truck (LR) category. I’m a bit confused about whether I go left or right with this signage. There are bigger motorhomes than mine and many converted buses on the road too. It’d be great if the laws, council parking and signage could be updated to be more inclusive and accurate.
Motorhomes are recreational vehicles, stay out of the truck parking areas they are for people who are working.
Pretty simple. LOL.
Sounds like you’re rude as well as being what you said. LOL.
Motorhomes are workers too. Don’t be greedy.
I agree – we live in a bus and tow a tandem trailer – that signage is confusing. One wonders if the caravan spaces would even be large enough to cater for our rig; and we sure don’t want to be a nuisance to truckies and commercial bus drivers.
There are not enough rest areas Australia wide. Especially with toilets. Why are councils and state governments so anti free camping. We need to vote for representives who support tourists above caravan parks.
Most definitely. We are forever paying our taxes as we travel.
Nine out of caravans sold in Australia these days are fitted with an ensuite.
All motorhomes have ensuites.
Why do people have to look for places to stop with toilets?
Use your ensuite for what it was designed for.
There are plenty of dump points around.
86GTS. From your comments I would have to ask, Are you a caravanner? If you were you would realize most caravanners who have ensuits still prefer to use public toilets for number 2’s. It’s just a hangup about emptying the cassette. I would have to also question your statement about plenty of dump points. I think there are only just enough.There is certainly not an excess as you would suggest..I have seen a few overflowing.
I think ALL truck stops should have toilets.
Yes definately
It is a great step forward but surely they can provide more than 3 spaces for caravan and motorhomes to share. As in the new rest areas between Kempsey and Ballina.
Rest areas, just with a simple composting toilet for number twos, is all a Grey Nomader, or travelling Nomad needs. You don’t need to un-hook, just require a spot off the road for the night. When travelling around Australia, NSW is way behind what other states offer. I wouldn’t cost much !
I travel in a sedan and use a small tent. Never see anyone else doing the same. Works for me. Would rather camp rough, I feel safer.
The Nullabor road for the bulk of it is a good piece of bitumen and it needs to be due to its isolation. The rest stops are a different thing. I was quite discusted by the amount of rubbish and even toilet paper and excrement on the ground in these stops. Many international visitors travel this road and the look is not good. Im not saying its a simple fix but something needs to be done. I would love for a relevant government minister to travel the road.
it’s the back packers that do this
Not necessarily, local degenerates do it too.
Not everything is the fault of back packers.
Over the 180,000kms of our travels we’ve seen plenty of grey nomads doing the wrong thing too.
We’ve also met many well mannered responsible back packers as well.
The stretch of highway gladstone to Sunshine Coast needs more visible rest stops
There is plenty on that stretch of highway
Anywhere in S.A. as our roadside stops are crap.
Not sure how much work.is being done but the figures quoted amount to $12M. Is it any wonder there are not more parking areas if this is what it costs for an “upgrade”. Costs have gone into the stratosphere.
Australia definately needs to improve its regional road networks. Better roads, more frequent overtaking lanes and more and better rest stops with decent clean facilities.
While I understand the importance of road freight transport to Australia’s economic wellbeing we should never lose sight of the fact that cars and other light vehicle subsidise the roads and related infrastructure used by commercial truck operators. Trucks do 90% of the road damage but only contribute 15% of the road maintenance revenue. The tail should not be wagging the dog.
It’s only going to get worse due to the online shopping growth and freight being the only way to service the demand. Amazon, Australia post, Temu , Jayco and others like this should be contributing to the cost of upgrades without passing this cost onto customers, their profits are astronomical . Caravan rest stops are generally substandard Australia wide and are nowhere near keeping up the pace with growth of this industry.
In the year 2022 2023 the total road expenditure both national and local is listed at 39 billion with road transport contributing 31billion though various taxation including fuel tax. I think the transport industry pays its way.
We had a free overnight camping area for selfcontained vehicles on the edge of our town , New Norfolk Tasmania, which the council in their wisdom closed down. They stated that they would put one in a different spot. Never happened , therefore we miss out on some tourists to our area.
I don’t know who designs rest areas in NSW, but I find it dangerous to park in the designated caravan parking spots because to enter your van you have to go on to the roadway. Same when you exit your van you risk being run over. A child could jump out into the traffic or a person could stumble in to an oncoming car. We therefore park in the truck area so we can enter and exit our van onto an island.
Also the designated caravan parking is often full, there is not enough space so that’s another reason to park in the truck area.
We just came back from Grafton. The rest areas had seperate areas for trucks. What really got me was the cars were in bays on one side whilst the larger caravan sites were where you step out of the van straight into traffic flow. So scary