LITHGOW councillor Grahame Danaher fears the funding for the on again-off again highway deviation between Mt Victoria and Lithgow will be diverted by citycentric politicians to ‘a motorway to Palm Beach’.
The deviation has been a live issue in both the Hartley Valley and the Upper Mountains for several years with hundreds of people likely to be affected by any eventual deviation still in a state of limbo.
During the term of the previous NSW government the then RTA ended many months of debate and speculation by announcing a ‘preferred route through the valley’.
The route closely followed that of the existing highway.
But as foreshadowed during the campaign leading up to last year’s election the project has been put on hold by the new government.
The deputy premier and Nationals leader Andrew Stoner had promised just such a move when he addressed lobbyists in Mt Victoria.
Subsequently after taking up power in Macquarie Street the government announced a hold on the project while it conducted yet another review.
Speaking in council Cr Danaher said that while the government waits to make a decision deaths and injuries continue on the Mt Victoria to South Bowenfels horror stretch of the Great Western Highway.
“Fears are being expressed that a shortage of state government funds may result in earlier promises to upgrade this section of the highway to an acceptable safety standard being shelved,” he said.
He said completed work on the bottom bend of Victoria Pass can be described as little more than cosmetic with serious accidents still occurring.
Work under way on the deadly top bend will do nothing to reduce the 16 per cent inclination of the ‘steep grade’ which is the biggest single problem on the Great Western Highway.
“After significant work on River Lett Hill serious accidents still occur.
“The RTA only ever described that work as a short term job pending a new section of highway,” Cr Danaher said.
“Roads Minister Duncan Gay recently indicated his desire to reach agreement during his tenure as minister on a plan for an upgraded Bells Line of Road — certainly a welcome objective but an unacceptable outcome if it interferes with the early construction of a new road between Mt Victoria and the top of Forty Bends as promised.
“Upgrading Bells Line of Road is an attractive political proposition but frankly it could mean locking highway users into the present horror stretch for perhaps another 30 to 50 years before Bells Line can justify the funds required.
“In the meantime the fact remains that in terms of capacity the Great Western Highway west of Katoomba has adequate space for many years for the most optimistic estimates of growth in the western part of the state if sensibly upgraded..
“It is true that general plans can soon be developed for upgrading Bells Line.
“It is also true that minor works could soon begin on selective upgrade works — realignment of some curves as well as establishment of passing lanes and so on.”
Cr Danaher believes the Darling Causeway option remains the best solution to the improved access between the Upper Mountains and Lithgow, a view previously expressed by some other councillors including deputy mayor Howard Fisher.
The deviation would extend from a point between Mt Victoria and Bell and follow a relatively easy route around the bottom of the mountain ridge to join the existing highway near the Forty Bends section.
Proponents say this could be achieved without any steep inclines and could be incorporated into any future Bells Line expressway.
Email a friend