The COVID-19 pandemic hasn't been able to stop progress on the Albion Park Rail bypass.
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Transport for NSW said the long-awaited project is still running on schedule to be completed by 2022, with work crews following directives from NSW Health as they continue moving earth, laying bitumen and building bridges.
"Work is progressing onsite with social distancing and hygiene practices being implemented to ensure the safety of workers and the community," a Transport for NSW spokesman said.
Some sections of the project have already opened to traffic, including a bridge into Albion Park.
The next in line is likely to be the Croome Road bridge, which will have cars driving over it by the end of the month - weather permitting.
The Croome Road bridge is one of 13 that make up the 9.8-kilometre Albion Park Rail bypass, which include waterway, road and rail crossings as well as those built to accommodate on and off ramps.
Like most of the bypass construction, the bulk of those bridges are out of sight of motorists travelling along the M1 Princes Motorway and Albion Park Rail.
It's the northern end of the project that is most visible, with bridges going over the motorway, rail line and Yallah Road.
Several of those bridges have taken a step closer to completion, with the placing of precast concrete beams - known as planks - across the bridge frames.
"The team installed 129 planks for the bridge over the Princes Motorway, and 55 planks for the bridge over the South Coast railway line," said Kiama MP Gareth Ward.
"Now these planks are in place, the project team will build walkways to allow the crew to pour the bridge decks."
While the planks were put in place, the northbound lanes of the motorway were closed and traffic was moved onto the southbound lanes with a single lane in each direction.
"Planks will next be installed on three more bridges across the project, with two along the Illawarra Highway and one along the new East West Link," Mr Ward said.
Mr Ward said 2600 people have worked on the project to date - about 70 per cent of them coming from the Illawarra.
Since construction started in 2018, they have put in 1.8 million hours of work.
Once completed, the $630 million Albion Park Rail bypass will provide two lanes in each direction, with space to build a third in the future.
The bypass will allow motorists to skip 16 intersections.
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