THE NSW government has dedicated $5 million for further planning for the extension of the M1 to the Pacific Highway – but the state’s roads department says timing for construction is still “not confirmed” and depends on “planning approval, future traffic needs and funding availability”.
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The missing link in the Hunter’s road network has been in the pipeline since 2004, and is considered an “imperative” state infrastructure project by the NRMA.
The NRMA wants the government to “expedite” planning and move on to construction, but the budget papers show there’s still no final cost or completion date for the project. The government promised to spend $200 million on the project before the 2015 election.
The then Port Stephens Liberal Party candidate Ken Jordan conceded the project could cost significantly more to complete and would require federal funding.
But at the time, Roads Minister Duncan Gay refused to say whether the state money would fund the actual construction of the project.
A consultation report released this month says the funding will only go towards making the project “ready for construction”.
“The timing for construction is not confirmed and is dependent on planning approval, future traffic needs and funding availability,” the Roads and Maritime Services report states. “A staged construction could be considered, subject to funding availability and benefits to the road network.”
Shadow Minister for the Hunter Kate Washington doesn’t believe the government ever intended to fund the construction.
“It involves such complex engineering, and that’s why it’s one of the last pieces of the puzzle on the M1,” she said.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald said he was pleased with the latest funding, but it would take a “massive advocacy effort into both federal and state governments” to fund the entire project.
He was surprised he didn’t hear more advocacy on the issue from the Hunter’s state and federal MPs.
“I just don’t hear the same level of urgency on this project that I would expect,” he said.
The road consists of a 15km bypass of Hexham and Heatherbrae linking two of Australia’s busiest highways, interchanges at Black Hill, Tarro, Tomago and Raymond Terrace and a 2.6 kilometre bridge over Woodlands Close, the New England Highway and the Hunter River.
It’s considered a critical piece of state infrastructure to ease congestion for motorists and free up space on the freight corridor.
The RMS says it’s making “progress towards completing the concept design and environmental assessment”.
So far only $29 million has been spent on property acquisition and planning.
Last year the Roads and Maritime Service invited comments on changes to the project, which include an exit ramp south of Heatherbrae to improve access to businesses, and a free-flowing interchange at Tomago to replace the previously proposed roundabout design.
A separate road into the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens via Old Punt Road has also been proposed to address access concerns.
However a community consultation process conducted by the Roads and Maritime Service and released this month shows concerns about the loss of business for the Hunter Botanic Gardens and Heatherbrae businesses have persisted.
The RMS says it’s conducting a “socio-economic study to assess the potential impacts on businesses”.
