The drive between Ballina and Lismore is about to get a little slower, but authorities hope it will also become considerably safer.

The speed limit on another section of the Bruxner Highway will drop from 70km/h to 60km/h from November as work begins towards installing traffic lights at the notorious Alphadale Road-Cowlong Road intersection.

The lower limit will apply for 1.6 kilometres between Pineapple Road at Goonellabah and a point about 500 metres east of the intersection, taking the 60km/h zone further towards the Ballina Shire boundary.

It will affect thousands of Ballina Shire residents who make the trip to Lismore each day.  Transport for NSW says an average of about 20,000 vehicles a day travel the Bruxner Highway between Lismore and the West Ballina M1 Pacific Highway interchange.

And new figures reveal just how dangerous the Alphadale intersection can be.

A special Transport for NSW camera recorded more than 600 near misses at the intersection in less than a month between July 2 and July 29.

Of those, 129 were classified as high-risk events.

Many regular Ballina-Lismore commuters will have experienced their own close calls at the intersection, where drivers from Alphadale and Cowlong roads must find gaps in fast-moving highway traffic.

The investigation found right-turn and cross-traffic movements presented the greatest risks.

Speed was also a major factor, with 43 per cent of vehicles involved in recorded incidents travelling above the existing 70km/h limit.

Traffic lights on the way

600 near misses have been recorded since Transport for NSW installed monitoring cameras at the notorious Alphadale intersection in July.

Early work on the $11.4 million intersection upgrade will begin in November, weather permitting, including new warning signs, line marking, shoulder sealing and vegetation removal.

Further enabling works are planned for 2027, with traffic lights ultimately to be installed.

Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin said Transport for NSW had advised the signals were expected to be completed by December 2028.

“While I’m pleased that my major election commitment from 2023 to upgrade the Alphadale crossroads is finally moving forward, Transport for NSW advises that the installation of traffic signals is expected to be completed by December 2028,” Ms Saffin said.

She said she had successfully pushed for the interim reduction to 60km/h.

The longer-term future of the increasingly busy Ballina-Lismore corridor remains unresolved.

Transport has identified a preferred corridor for an eight-kilometre upgrade between Sneaths Road at Wollongbar and Kadina Street at Goonellabah and is moving to protect the land required.

However, there is no construction funding.

The former Federal Coalition Government had committed $6.8 million towards planning for duplication and realignment of the section, but that Commonwealth funding was withdrawn following a review by the Albanese Government.

Ms Saffin said upgrading the Wollongbar-Goonellabah section remained one of her priorities as the region’s population grew.

She also wants safety and congestion issues addressed at the busy Molesworth Street roundabout in Lismore.

Ms Saffin has a long association with improvements to the Ballina-Lismore corridor.

As the then Federal Member for Page, she took a $90 million commitment for the Alstonville bypass to the 2007 election, with the incoming Rudd Government subsequently funding the project.

The bypass opened in 2011, removing through traffic from Alstonville’s main street and delivering the last major transformation of the Ballina-Lismore route.

Planning is also continuing for changes to the Bruxner Highway-Ballina Road intersection at Alstonville, with further traffic modelling undertaken following community feedback.