South Coast motorists are stuck in a funding traffic jam behind the North Coast before the state and federal governments can commit to further upgrades on the Princes Highway, south of Jervis Bay.
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Speaking after the Friday, February 23, double fatality at Jerrawangala, south of Nowra, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance said he wanted the highway duplicated to the Victorian border.
Acknowledging the “1940s” state of the Princes Highway, Mr Constance however said funding would not be available until after 2020, when upgrades to the Pacific Highway on the North Coast were completed.
“Last week I’ve spoken to Parliament about the need for the completion of the (Pacific) Highway ... which is an 80/20 funding agreement until 2020,” Mr Constance said.
He said when that project was completed “a long-term funding stream between the Commonwealth and the state to duplicate the highway south of Jervis Bay” could be considered.
Mr Constance said he would work alongside Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis and South Coast MP Shelley Hancock to channel funds south.
“(We need to) look to a long-term duplication of the highway in the same way the Pacific Highway and Hume Highway have been duplicated,” he said.
“The Berejiklian and Turnbull governments want to have those discussions.”
In response to calls from the NRMA in November 2014 about the need for a divided dual-carriage way to the Victorian border, Mr Constance acknowledged the highway’s high crash risk.
“A lot of the highway south of Nowra – as the NRMA has identified not only in 2014, but for many, many years – is built to 1940s standard,” he said.
In the eight weeks from Boxing Day 2017, there have been three head-on collisions on the Princes Highway between Nowra and Batemans Bay, resulting in seven fatalities.
A crash between a truck and a four-wheel drive towing a caravan near Termeil on Monday, February 19, was the third serious crash on the highway between Termeil and Narooma that day.
Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis acknowledged Friday’s fatal crash and said the South Coast community deserved safer roads.
“We want to pull money south – it’s deserving, it’s needed and with the number of fatalities that have occurred, it’s clearly becoming quite significant in the eyes of the general public and we don’t want to lose lives,” Mrs Sudmalis said.
“I send my sad condolences to the family and friends, and as Andrew (Constance) said, it has more impact than you could imagine – there’s ripples of sadness through a community.
“But that doesn’t stop us knowing that we pretty much have to keep this front and centre with both levels of government.
“We’ve got to keep working of this, once the funds are released north, our ideal is for that money to start (being assigned) south.”
Mr Constance as Infrastructure Minister has been criticised for supporting major Sydney development projects, including two new sporting stadiums redevelopments.
Asked if he had his priorities wrong, Mr Constance defended his record on regional projects such as the Princes Highway.
“Here in the shire we have $45 million going into Dignams Creek which has been a major and perilous spot on the highway,” Mr Constance said.
“We are very serious about what is needed in the longer term. We’ve had $1.5 billion spent on bad stretches of the highway in the duplication (process).
“We have some very serious challenges and those challenges very much rest between Nowra and Batemans Bay and very bad spots further north of Narooma.”
