In January this year, work began on building a new 1.2-kilometre stretch of road just northwest of the Loddon Creek bridge.

The work replaced two bends that a 2014 Roads and Maritime Services study identified as the deadliest sections of Appin Road.

These bends accounted for 18 crashes and two of the four fatalities along the southern end of Appin Road in the study period of 2008 to 2013.

The $6.3 million project replaces the two bends with a more gentle curve.

It includes a safety barrier along the median to stop head-on crashes and wider shoulders to give straying motorists more space to recover before entering bushland on the side of the road.

It also retains the old road configuration of two lanes for traffic heading to Appin and one towards Bulli Tops.

While the new section of road has been used by motorists for around a month, Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward officially opened it on Friday.

“Work was not due to be completed until early next year, but due to favourable working conditions resulting in increased productivity, and the project being managed so well by Roads and Maritime Services, this new section is now complete,” Mr Ward said.

Other work on Appin Road in the wake of the study includes upgrades to the intersection with the West Cliff Colliery access road.

With several fatalities along this section of road, RMS had to deal with the sensitive task of moving roadside memorials.

“With multiple roadside memorials in this area, another important aspect of this project involved liaising with families and friends to relocate these memorials to allow work to progress,” Mr Ward said.

“One large memorial was relocated during work and Roads and Maritime will contact families again to give them the opportunity to reinstate memorials at a new location along the upgraded section of Appin Road.”