I thought the road from Willow Tree to Merriwa was sealed already, even though a goat track in places.
Car looks awesome by the way. You can see where the Xantia came from.
Dave
Thanks for the comment on the car - I still want to get the windows tinted - I think it will add an air of mystery! It also needs to be quieter, so a generous application of dynamat is called for, and proably a quieter muffler. Seats and ride very comfortable - arrived in Leura not at all stiff and sore - but it does need better headlights (a known XM issue). I find driving at night without good lights leaves me very tired
North side from Willow Tree to the base of the range has been sealed for some time. South side of the range was sealed (but very narrow). The climb up the range on the N side, and maybe the first 10 km leading away from the S side were unsealed when we first went over there in the 406 about 5 years ago.
Possibly as much as 2 years ago, the council started on the S. side. They have completed sealing the road to the base of the climb, and widened the very narrow descent on the S side. This took many months, and although Google continued to recommend that route, arriving at the wrong time could leave one with a 40 minute wait before being allowed through. Then they moved onto the N side in the last few months, where the road was already wide enough, so they were able to seal the climb much more quickly.
So that should be that - except that the sharp eyed among you will have spotted the traffic light. Apparently the new construction on the S side was not done as well as it should have been, as 2 sections have slipped (just like a NZ road really). So they have put up barricades to reduce the affected sections back to one lane, and 2 sets of automated traffic lights to make sure we don't meet other traffic by accident. So what Google now believes to be the quickest way still has holdups.
This time there was a new addition - at the foot of the range on both sides, there are road work signs, reducing speed right down as you approach a mini-maze constructed from concrete crash barriers. These seem to be designed to prevent heavy transport using the road over the range. I would have thought signs indicating a weight limit would have been enough, but perhaps the council doesn't trust the truckies to do the right thing.
(no doubt UFO will disagree)
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