Work commenced on Monday night on a six-week, $2.1 million upgrade of Hawkesbury Road between White Cross Road, Winmalee and Shaws Creek Bridge - including the multiple hairpin corners known as "the bends".
The upgrade will see 8km of road resurfaced with thicker, stronger and more slip-resistant asphalt base.
The hairpin bends will be widened as well as resurfaced, but centre dividing lines that were removed by Roads and Maritime Services in 2012 will not be reinstated.
NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay visited the area on Monday afternoon, describing the upgrade as "a resurfacing job that is so overdue".
"The public consultation period for this [upgrade] went very well, in part because I got a lot of correspondence passed onto me from the local MP [Roza Sage] about the condition of the corners along Hawkesbury Road.
"That helped me when it came to making a decision to allocate funding for this project."
Work will take place three to four nights per week and during some weekends for about six weeks. There will be reduced speed limits, changed traffic conditions and temporary localised changes to street parking arrangements during this period.
Hawkesbury Road on either side of "the bends" will be closed completely for one weekend - Friday, October 24 at 8pm until Monday, October 27 at 6am - with one happy exception.
"I've been told that a local couple will have their wedding reception at a nearby venue on October 25 and they'll need to travel on this road to get there, so arrangements have been made to open the road just for them," Mr Gay said.
Mrs Sage welcomed the funding for the upgrade "of a road that carries a lot of traffic between the Lower Mountains and the Hawkesbury region's employment and industrial centre of Richmond".
"It will benefit not just the people of the Blue Mountains but also visitors and tourists too.
"This $2.1 million upgrade is part of a 44 per cent increase in roads funding to the Blue Mountains by the NSW government, in addition to the extra funding provided to fast-track the Great Western Highway widening project."
For more details about the Hawkesbury Road resurfacing upgrade, contact road construction firm Downer Mouchel on 1800 332 660 or email enquiries_nsw@downermouchel.com.
