The first sod of soil will be turned this morning  on the biggest state public works project ever undertaken in the region....the $310 million first stage of the upgrading of the Princes Highway at Gerringong.

Roads Minister Duncan will perform the honours, marking the start to work on duplicating the road over a distance of 7KM between the top of the Kiama bends and Toolijooa.

The work includes new interchanges to get traffic in and out of Gerringong, and bridges over the south coast rail line.

You can fly an animation of the upgrade HERE

The yet to be funded stage two of the work is expected to cost about $600 million and will include the Berry by pass.

In the final stage the duplication will be extended to Bomaderry.

Meantime about 150 people have attended a question and answer session on the Berry by pass, which the state government announced last month will go north of the town.

The meeting was told the northern option is $100 million cheaper than the southern option which would have required a 12 hundred metre long viaduct.

The government now plans a full environmental assessment of the northern route, and hopes to submit documentation to the Department of Planning by the middle of next year.