Penrith City Council is planning to upgrade intersections along the Coreen Avenue corridor, between Castlereagh Road and Lemongrove Road, to improve the overall efficiency and safety of the road for all users and also ensure it can cater for future traffic demands.

This project has been awarded funding through the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan – Local Roads Package, which forms part of the Australian Government’s Infrastructure Investment Program.


Draft Design

Thank you for your feedback

Consultation on the draft design for this project has now closed. Council is carefully reviewing and considering all the feedback received within technical and project constraints. A detailed design is now being developed and will be shared with the community. If you have questions or would like information please contact: coreenavenueupgrade@penrith.city

Project overview

Key features:

  • New signalised intersection with four-lane carriageway at Coreen Avenue and Coombes Drive (west).
  • New signalised intersection with four-lane carriageway at Coreen Avenue and Sydney Smith Drive.
  • Removal of the roundabout at Combewood Avenue and introduction of no right turn into Combewood Avenue from Coreen Avenue.
  • Upgraded intersection at Coombes Drive (east) with left turn in only from Coreen Avenue.
  • Upgraded dual-lane roundabout at Bel-Air Road.
  • Upgraded intersection with a four-lane carriageway and dedicated turning lanes at Lemongrove Road.
  • More street lighting, new and upgraded footpaths and pedestrian refuge islands. 

Changes to access and parking are required to improve traffic flow and safety along Coreen Avenue. There will be access changes at Coombes Drive (east) and at Combewood Avenue, and parking loss on approach to the upgraded intersections. Detailed information about the intersection upgrades can be found by clicking the arrows below.

Intersection upgrades

Council has conducted extensive traffic and transport investigations and modelling which assessed the Coreen Avenue and Coomes Drive (west) intersection performance as failing in both AM and PM peak periods.

Vehicles from Coombes Drive (northern approach) are unable to enter Coreen Avenue due to high volume of vehicles travelling along Coreen Avenue, particularly during the AM period. The average delays experienced by the vehicles increase up to six minutes and queues extend up to 125 metres.

Proposed changes:

  • Upgrade to a new signalised intersection and four-lane carriageway at Coombes Drive (west).
  • Removal of right turn into Combewood Avenue from Coreen Avenue.
  • Access change to left in and left out only at Combewood Avenue.
  • Removal of a section of the parking lane on Coreen Avenue to accommodate dual lanes on the approach to the intersection. This will result in some parking loss.
  • A small section of the parking lane on Coombes Drive will be removed to accommodate the dual lanes on the approach to the intersection. This will result in a small number of parking spaces lost.

Benefits include:

  • Traffic signals will improve access in and out of industrial zone.
  • Street lighting will enhance visibility and improve safety at night.
  • Traffic signal phasing will improve pedestrian safety.
  • Traffic signal phasing will ensure queued traffic is cleared every cycle.
  • The new four lane carriageway will reduce congestion and improve travel time.
  • Improved access to Penrith Commuter Car Park.


Council has conducted extensive traffic and transport investigations and modelling which assessed the Coreen Avenue and Sydney Smith Drive intersection performance as failing in both AM and PM peak periods.

Vehicles from Sydney Smith Drive are unable to enter Coreen Avenue due to the queue spilling back from the Coreen Avenue and Lemongrove Road intersection. The average delays experienced by the vehicles increase up to an extra six minutes and queues extend up to 197 metres.

Proposed changes:

  • Upgrade to a new four-lane, signalised intersection with dedicated right-turn lane into Sydney Smith Drive.
  • Removal of existing roundabout
  • Access change to double-right turn and single left turn onto Coreen Avenue.
  • A small section of the parking lane on Sydney Smith Drive (west) will be removed to accommodate dual lanes on the approach to the intersection at Coreen Avenue. This will result in a small number of street parking spaces being lost.
  • Alternative street parking is still available in the remaining parking lane on Sydney Smith Drive (west), along the eastern side of Sydney Smith Drive and on Empire Circuit.

Benefits include:

  • Traffic signals will improve access to Coreen Avenue from Sydney Smith Drive.
  • Traffic signals will reduce congestion and queuing along Sydney Smith Drive.
  • Dual lanes will improve the traffic flow along Coreen Avenue.
  • Traffic signal phasing will improve pedestrian safety.
  • Street lighting will enhance visibility and improve safety at night.
  • Contribute to the overall performance of Coreen Avenue during peak periods.

Council has conducted extensive traffic investigations and future traffic modelling which assessed the Coreen Avenue and Coomes Drive (east) intersection performance as failing in both AM and PM peak periods.

Vehicles from Coombes Drive (northern approach) are unable to enter Coreen Avenue due to the high volume of vehicles travelling along Coreen Avenue, and queues that spill back from the Lemongrove Road intersection, particularly during the AM period.

Proposed changes:

  • Upgraded intersection with left turn only into Coombes Drive (east).
  • Removal of the left-turn lane into Coreen Avenue from Coombes Drive (east).
  • Removal of the right turn lane into Coombes Drive from Coreen Avenue.
  • Installation of pedestrian refuge islands on Coreen Avenue.
  • A small section of the parking lane on Coreen Avenue (western approach) will be removed to accommodate the dual lanes on the approach to the intersection. This will result in a small number of street parking spaces lost.

Benefits include:

  • Access changes into and out of Coombes Drive will improve traffic flow.
  • The new roundabout at Hickeys Road will ensure B-Doubles can turn safely and exit onto Coreen Avenue at the new signalised intersection at Coombes Drive (west).
  • Pedestrian refuge will improve pedestrian safety.
  • New pavement and pavement widening will improve pedestrian access.
  • Contributes to the overall performance of Coreen Avenue during peak periods.


Council has conducted extensive traffic investigations and future traffic modelling which has assessed the Coreen Avenue and Bel-Air Road intersection performance as failing in both AM and PM peak periods.

Vehicles on Bel-Air Road (northern approach) are prevented from entering Coreen Avenue due to the long queues from the Coreen Avenue and Lemongrove Road intersection causing significant delays during the PM period.

Proposed changes:

  • Upgrade to a dual-lane roundabout at Bel-Air Road and Coreen Avenue.
  • Lane widening on approach to the roundabout for east and westbound traffic.
  • Installation of new pedestrian refuge.
  • A small section of the parking lane on Coreen Avenue (western and eastern approach) will be removed to accommodate the lane widening. This will result in a small number of street parking spaces lost.

Benefits include:

  • New dual-lane roundabout will improve access in and out of Bel-Air Road.
  • Pedestrian refuge will improve pedestrian safety.
  • Contributes to the overall performance of Coreen Avenue during peak periods.

Council has conducted extensive traffic investigations and future traffic modelling which assessed the Coreen Avenue and Lemongrove Road intersection performance as failing in both AM and PM peak periods.

Significant delays at this intersection are caused by the heavy number of vehicles turning right from Coreen Avenue (western approach) which results in long queues that spill back to Bel-Air Road.

Proposed changes:

  • Upgrade existing traffic signals with dual, right-turn lanes into Lemongrove Road.
  • New pedestrian refuge.
  • New footpath.
  • New streetlights.

Benefits include:

  • Widening lanes will improve the traffic flow along Coreen Avenue.
  • Traffic signal phasing will improve pedestrian safety.
  • New footpaths and refuge will improve pedestrian safety.
  • Street lighting will enhance visibility and improve safety at night.
  • Contribute to the overall performance of Coreen Avenue during peak periods.

Council has conducted extensive traffic investigations and future traffic modelling which assessed the Coreen Avenue and Coomes Drive (east) intersection performance as failing in both AM and PM peak periods.

During these investigations, vehicles travelling along Coombes Drive (northern approach) could not enter Coreen Avenue due to the high volume of vehicles travelling along Coreen Avenue, and the queue spilling back from the Lemongrove Road intersection, particularly during the AM period.

The new roundabout at Coombes Drive and Hickeys Road will allow cars and trucks to turn around safely and exit Coombes Drive at the new signalised intersection at Coombes Drive (west) and Coreen Avenue.

Proposed changes:

  • Installation of a new roundabout.
  • New footpath.
  • New pedestrian refuge on Hickeys Road.
  • Small number of car spaces removed on Coombes Drive on the approach to the roundabout.
  • Removal of left turn out onto Coreen Avenue from Coombes Drive (east).

Benefits include:

  • Improve traffic flow along Coombes Drive.
  • Improve the safety of turning heavy vehicles.
  • New footpath and refuge will improve pedestrian safety.
  • Support the access changes at Coreen Avenue intersection.
  • Contributes to the improved performance of Coreen Avenue during peak periods.

FAQs

Survey

Coreen Avenue accommodates an average 15,000 and 21,000 vehicles each day. Traffic modelling has assessed that motorists can queue for 170 metres to access intersections and can wait up to six minutes in traffic during the AM and PM peak times.

Between 2014 and 2019, there were 39 reported crashes on Coreen Avenue resulting in serious or moderate injuries. More than half of these accidents were caused by rear end collisions, cross traffic, and motorists unable to make a safe right-hand turn.

Council has undertaken extensive traffic studies and future traffic modelling to develop a design that addresses the congestion experienced by motorists at intersections, will enhance traffic flow on Coreen Avenue and improves road safety for all users.