Thursday, 20 October 2016

State Government Not Prioritising Bypass

By: ARIANA GATTI

Wallsend MP, Sonia Hornery is calling on the State Government to speed up the planning and construction process for the Newcastle Inner-City Bypass.

The Bypass now in its fifth and final stage of planning, has still not had its final plan out on public exhibition.

The Government revealed the concept design and environmental impact assessment in 2014, and is now lacking the gusto to finish for this year.

The Bypass project set to run over a 3.4km section of road near Jesmond and Wallsend, will cost around $280 million.

The Government had promised that construction would begin in early 2017, however there are fears in the Wallsend electorate that the State Government are not prioritising key infrastructure projects that need attention.

“There has been delay after delay on this project with the Government showing more interest in the CBD of Newcastle than the Western suburbs”, says Sonia.


She also says, “The Government needs to prioritise this important missing link in the Hunter’s road network”.


Newcastle Inner City Bypass - click for a larger version of the map
                              [Image sourced: http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/hunter/newcastle-inner-city-bypass/]