THE Fingal Bay Link Road has been thrown into the spotlight again after the weekend's fires caused bottleneck delays along the only route in, or out, of Fingal Bay.
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Residents complained that cars fleeing from the Fingal Bay fire were held up at the Shoal Bay Road and Government Road intersection after larger than normal volumes were experienced.
The Fingal Bay Link Road, which has been on the agenda for at least a decade, would help alleviate the bottleneck, bypassing Nelson Bay and Shoal Bay, but Paterson MP Bob Baldwin said it was needed more for the holiday season, not one-off fire events.
"I'm not sure that it would have benefited on the weekend," he said.
"Christmas time is the worst."
Mr Baldwin said the location of the weekend's fire did not threaten the existing road but admitted two roads in and out of an area was always beneficial.
The Examiner reported in February progress on building the link road was still "some time off", with Port Stephens Council still in the planning stages.
But the funding of the project remains unknown with both mayor Bruce MacKenzie and Mr Baldwin playing the blame game.
Speaking to the Examiner on Tuesday Cr MacKenzie admitted the road had been on the agenda for about 20 years but said it needed funding from the state and federal government.
"It's got to come from taxpayers' money not ratepayers'," he said.
But Mr Baldwin hit back at the mayor's claims, saying although he had promised for three elections to secure the funding, unless the council had some solid plans in place and land acquisitions completed, his hands were tied.
Mr Baldwin said the most recent predictions for the construction of the road sat at about $12 million but he expected that figure to be higher now.
