Contract Awarded for Road Upgrades At Testers Hollow

BY ISABEL EVERETT

Long awaited road upgrades at Testers Hollow are a step closer to completion, with the contract for the $17 million project awarded to Daracon Contractors Pty Ltd.

The upgrade will see Cessnock Road raised around 1.5 metres, after motorists were cut off from using the road six times in 10 years due to flooding in the area.

The road, connects Maitland with the Hunter Expressway and broader community, and is subject to flooding at Testers Hollow, which affects residents, commuters and freight movements. 

Construction is expected to begin later in 2020, with hopes of opening the new length of road to motorists in two years time.

$15 million has been contributed by the Federal Government to fund the project, with $2 million contributed by the NSW Government.

A fix for Testers Hollow could be underway by mid next year

BY SARAH JAMES

Federal Member for Paterson Meryl Swanson has welcomed the announcement that work on raising the road at Tester's Hollow will next start year, but slammed the NSW Government for its $2 million contribution to the $17 million project.

During last year's election campaign the Liberal government had promised $15 million would go towards the project.

However, Meryl Swanson is claiming the announcement as a 'win', having lobbied hard since the election for the Coalition commitment to be realised.

"The government is now waiting on a proposal from the state government within weeks - so I'm very pleased about that, and then once they get that report from the state government they're going to be doing that planning work with construction to start in 2019," she said.

Federal Member For Paterson Meryl Swanson

$15 million for Testers Hollow

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A re-elected Turnbull government will commit $15 million to elevating Cessnock Road at Testers Hollow.

Minister for Major Projects Paul Fletcher alongside Liberal Candidate for Paterson Karen Howard, announced this morning that the funding is available and will cover 80 per-cent of the full cost of the project.

The minister says he is confident the funding will successfully mitigate flood risk in the area.

"The flood events of the kind that we saw last year will be very much mitigated. This is a plan so that residents, for example here in Gillieston Heights, won't face the same risk of being cut off for several days as occurred last year."

The growing suburb of Gillieston Heights was cut off for six days after devastating floods left them isolated in April last year.

"I want to emphasise, every commitment we make falls within our overall plan and our budgetary commitments. This commitment that we're making today, this commitment to spend $15 million in elevating Cessnock Road at Testers Hollow meets and fits within our overall plan."