More than $60 million has been allocated to Hunter road projects in the 2020-21 state budget, but most of the funding will be used to plan - rather than construct - major upgrades.
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The government will spend $21 million on planning the M1 Motorway extension, a 15-kilometre link between Black Hill and Raymond Terrarce that will bypass Hexham and Heatherbrae.
The road has been planned since 2004. The government had spent $39 million on the project before June 30 this year.
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As revealed by the Newcastle Herald before the budget release, $20 million has been put towards preparation works for stage five of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass.
Budget papers do not reveal an updated total cost for the 3.4-kilometre road between Rankin Park and Jesmond, nor the expected start or completion date, but the state plans to spent $304 million on the project over the next four years.
It had spent $46.7 million before June 30, and the project recently attracted $360 million in federal funds.
The Commonwealth also announced $587 million for the Singleton bypass last month, but the state government has allocated only $8.5 million towards planning it and the Muswellbrook bypass.
More than $6.7 million will be spent on planning the New England Highway upgrade between Belford and the Golden Highway.
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Further improvements will be made to Nelson Bay Road as part of a $6 million funding allocation. This money is understood to be for works separate to the road's duplication between Williamtown and Bobs Farm.
A further $2.1 million has been allocated to fixing Hunter pinch points, including $700,000 to upgrade the Northcott Drive and Kahibah Road intersections on the Pacific Highway.
Regional Roads and Transport Minister Paul Toole said the state's $33 billion transport budget had funded projects that would serve future generations for years to come.
"These investments and projects will not only make journeys safer, faster and more reliable - they will also create and support thousands of jobs as part of the NSW Government's plan for a prosperous, post-pandemic economy," he said.
"Nearly every major highway is seeing investment that will deliver safer journeys and improved productivity - from new overtaking lanes on the Newell, planning for the Singleton and Muswellbrook bypasses on the New England Highway and sealing of the Silver City and Cobb in the Far West."
The government has also allocated $13.3 million for the "planning and preservation" of the Lower Hunter Freight Corridor.
The funding for the proposed freight rail line between Fassifern and Hexham appears to have been rolled over from previous years, as only $3.6 million had been spent on the project before June 30.
Lake Macquarie council's planned extension of the Fernleigh Track will receive $4 million as part of a $7.5 million grant announced earlier this year.
