“What a joke,” one said,

“This will never happen, certainly not in the next term of Government.”

Another could “smell the pork rolling in the barrel down the highway” and wondered if there was “a whiff of nerves”, with a poll looming.

Another said money was “like dirty water under the bridge just before an election”.

“Slash, cut, burn, sell off the lot to pay for the big end of town’s expenses.”

However, a shaken fisherman begged to differ.

“There’s more to it than just getting a couple more lanes over the river,” he said.

“I’ve been fishing it for over 30 years and back then, when a couple of trucks went over together, you would only feel a vibration.

“Now it feels like someone’s belting the pillars with sledge hammers.

“There’s not much more life in the old bridge pillars.”

Others want the tourism vessel Merinda, which the bridge is opened for twice daily, to be anchored west of the highway.

Another thought a well-meaning politician had missed his step.

“I personally like Andrew, but think this is way off base and the funds better spent with community consultation,” she said.

However, another said the traffic bottleneck had been “a pain in the neck for over 50 years”.

Others said it was only an occasional inconvenience that could be lived with.

However, one man saw no reason why the Eurobodalla should not have a slice of the state’s $5.5 billion infrastructure pie: “What’s the issues of trying to get $110 million of it to fix our roads?”

However, another thought the work would only “shift the bottleneck”.

Others labelled it a waste of money, better spent on hospitals.

Related coverage: Atkinson: Libs asset-stripping the state http://www.batemansbaypost.com.au/story/2922549/atkinson-libs-asset-stripping-the-state/?cs=229