The Blue Mountains Conservation Society has poured cold water on a new push to build a Bells Line Expressway across the Mountains.
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“Factors which have caused several previous rejections of an expressway in the Bells Line of Road area do not appear to have changed,” Blue Mountains Conservation Society spokesman Don Morison said.
“While significant ‘spot’ upgrades are being carried out on sections of the Bells Line of Road west of Kurrajong Heights, a four-lane expressway in this area would be highly disruptive to sensitive sections of the World Heritage Listed Blue Mountains National Park.
“The notion that economic benefits would result for the Central West and Orana regions of New South Wales overlooks other factors influencing the future of those regions.”
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The NSW government has acknowledged something needs to be done to improve road access to Sydney from western NSW but said it was “too early to speculate” on how it would be delivered.
A failure by the state government to mention the Bells Line Expressway in its transport plan for the next 40 years motivated the renewed push for the project.
The Transport 2056 draft report failed to mention the expressway or any other option to improve traffic flow over the Blue Mountains.
When asked where the government stood on the idea of an expressway, a spokesperson for NSW roads minister Melinda Pavey was non-committal, stating it was too early to speculate.