Bega MP and NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance is yet to take his plans to duplicate the Batemans Bay Bridge to the Roads and Maritime Service, but said he intended to do so soon.
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Mr Constance announced the surprise plan at his NSW Election launch on Friday in Batemans Bay.
It provoked a storm of comment on social media and on the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner website.
Some readers welcomed a boost to infrastructure and an end to seasonal bottlenecks, while others wanted the promised $110 million spent on things such us health.
Mr Constance has continued to defend his plan, which he said had not been discussed with the Roads and Maritime Service (RMS), but had been the subject of discussion with Roads Minister Duncan Gay.
“The RMS engineers will look at the proposal and a preliminary assessment has been provided by (Roads and Transport Minister) Duncan Gay’s office,” Mr Constance said.
He said RMS engineers would consider the technical aspects of the project, such as where the bridge would go.
He remained defiant, despite criticism.
“I don’t care what the critics think,” he said.
“This is the right thing to do.
"We need to build to accommodate for the growth of the town, not wait for the town’s growth to outstrip us and then respond.
“The traffic volume on this bridge is enormous, and I understand that yesterday (Tuesday), the traffic was held up for 10 minutes.
"We don’t want to have a situation where an ambulance carrying a critical patient is held up for that long.”
He said the project would create hundreds of jobs, and there would be many positive flow-on effects for the town, including improved trade and housing.
“The money is coming from the roads program budget, and this government has spent $18.9 billion on health, including the South East Regional Hospital and the Renal and Oncology Unit in Moruya,” he said.
A Bay Post/Moruya Examiner online poll reveals that 67 per cent of respondents are in favour of the bridge project.
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