Readers will be familiar with Kookaburra’s support for the construction of the long discussed Bells Line Expressway.
So, it was heartening for Kookaburra to receive the submission below from a Concerned Citizen of New South Wales who wishes to see that infrastructure funds are spent wisely – both by the existing NSW government and any new NSW government – including on the Bells Line Expressway!
The Concerned Citizen was inspired to make the submission after reading the media release issued on 15 October last by NSW National Party Ministers Toole and Farraway entitled ‘Labor must come clean with regional NSW on federal budget cuts‘.
It is perhaps interesting to note that back in 2016, during the election campaign of that year, the then Federal Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Darren Chester, a member of the National Party, was reported by the ABC to have stated that ‘he is working with his New South Wales counterpart to ensure a proposed “superhighway” through the Blue Mountains is made a priority‘.
This was reinforced by the calls by Andrew Gee, the Federal National Party M.P. for Calare, for the Bells Line Expressway to be built.
In addition, the late Ian Armstrong, the former National Party Leader in NSW, members of the CENTROC group of Central West councils and the Bells Line Expressway Group all expressed enthusiasm for the project and disappointment that it had not progressed.
Here is the Concerned Citizen’s submission:
Messers Toole and Farraway are vocal proponents of the so-called “upgrade” of the Great Western Highway from Katoomba to Lithgow.
The “upgrade” is confined to that section of road between Katoomba and Lithgow.
The “upgrade” will cost, realistically, between $10-20 billion in today’s money.
The “upgrade” will deliver 6 minutes’ saved travel time.
The delivery of the project is decades away, even if construction commenced today.
The project does nothing for travel from Katoomba to Sydney and never will.
The project does not deliver an expressway to Sydney – it leaves the Central West and Western Tablelands the only region in NSW without an expressway to Sydney.
The project is not future-proof. It is not a “game-changer”. It is not “transformative”. It will not improve social or economic connectivity between Sydney and the Central West.
The project is overwhelmingly opposed by the regional communities it paves over because of the environment, heritage and socio-economic value of those communities which it trashes.
The vision that should be adopted and made a reality is a standalone expressway between Western Sydney and Lithgow: the Bells Expressway.
The Bells Expressway would be a stand-alone entirely new freeway between the Central West and Sydney.
The Bells Expressway would deliver a 30-minute journey across the Blue Mountains.
The Bells Expressway would not be interrupted by traffic lights or school zones – it would be an expressway!
The Bells Expressway would connect Lithgow to the Castlereagh Corridor (which has received Federal funding in the recent budget) and the Richmond Road onramp to the M7 orbital road.
The M7 orbital is the connecting expressway to Sydney, Sydney’s North West and the Central Coast via the M2 and M1/F3 to the north of NSW.
The M7 orbital is the connecting expressway to the second Sydney airport, Southern Highlands and Canberra via the Hume Highway to the south.
The blueprint for the Bells Expressway is the M1/F3 from Sydney to the Central Coast and beyond.
The M1/F3 was constructed in the 1960s-1980s through National Park and was an engineering feat.
The M1/F3 was nation-building. The M1/F3 was and is future-proof.
The Central West and Western Tablelands badly need effective representation, connectivity and vision – we need an expressway.
Who among our politicians – State and Federal – will be a nation-builder and visionary for the Central West and Western Tablelands?
It is a real pity that no such nation-builder or visionary has yet emerged as a political leader in and for the Central West and Western Tablelands or indeed, the Mountains communities.
