Martin Ferguson AM MP
Shadow Minister for Transport, Roads and Tourism
The Hon Bob Debus
Federal Labor Candidate for Macquarie

Federal Labor commits to start $450 million bypass of Mt Victoria and River Lett Hill
October 3, 2007

Shadow Minister for Transport, Roads and Tourism, Martin Ferguson, is in Bathurst today to announce that a Rudd Labor government will provide up to $200 million to start the bypass of Mt Victoria and River Lett Hill on the Great Western Highway between Katoomba and Lithgow.

Mr Ferguson said: “This major highway bypass will greatly improve access to Sydney and beyond by more than halving travel time between Mt. Victoria and Lithgow and reducing accidents by two-thirds.

“A Rudd Labor government will get on with the job of putting tarmac on real roads, but we will also have a plan for the future.

“As Kevin Rudd announced earlier this year, a Federal Labor government will review long-term transport needs for the Central West, including the potential for a Bells Line expressway.

“The review will be commissioned by and report to Infrastructure Australia, which will also consider other major transport infrastructure studies and projects such as the future of the inland railway, the need for a new road/rail corridor north of Sydney and the development of a future secondary port at Newcastle.

“Up to $5 million will be budgeted for the review, and Infrastructure Australia will determine the appropriate scope of works to build on the large body of analysis that has already been done, including on the Bells Line of Road,” Mr Ferguson said.

Federal Labor candidate for Macquarie, Bob Debus, welcomed funding for the Great Western Highway.

“We need realistic, practical solutions that will immediately improve journey times and increase road safety, backed up by a plan for the long term,” he said.

The Great Western Highway project will be managed by NSW authorities and jointly funded with the NSW Government, which will contribute 20 per cent of the final cost. Initial works will include detailed planning, environmental assessment, community consultation, approvals, design and land acquisition, followed by the commencement of procurement and construction over the Auslink 2 period.

The total project cost is estimated at $450 million and will be confirmed during the detailed planning and design stage.

The Auslink Corridor Strategy for Sydney to Dubbo identifies Victoria Pass and River Lett Hill as key deficiencies on the existing Great Western Highway alignment, particularly for freight transport.

Traffic volumes are between 7000 and 11,000 vehicles a day along this section of the corridor with a growth rate of about 1.5 per cent a year. Heavy vehicles make up about 15 per cent of traffic on the corridor with half the freight transported between the Central West and Sydney using this road.

Three-quarters of freight transported from the Central West is coal, grain and minerals.

The road through Victoria Pass and River Lett Hill is particularly steep with tight curvatures and severe grades in the order of 10 to 13 per cent, limiting the operation of heavy vehicles, especially high-productivity freight vehicles, between Sydney and the Central West. The necessary slow speed of heavy vehicles also imposes unwelcome and unnecessary constraints on the drivers of light vehicles.

The planning and design phase will identify a new alignment for the 25-kilometre section from Mt Victoria to Lithgow.

The new route will avoid heritage constraints at Mid-Hartley, bypass the grade and curvature constraints of River Lett Hill and provide a route on the western escarpment more suited to the operation of heavy vehicles than the current Victoria Pass.

It will bypass Mt Victoria village and descend into the Hartley Valley at a maximum grade of about six per cent, then climb out of the valley along the same ridgeline at a grade of about five per cent to rejoin the highway at the top of River Lett Hill.

The new route will incorporate climbing slow vehicle lanes, significantly improving safety for all road users, increasing freight transport productivity, and reducing road user costs.

Mr Ferguson said: “The existing Federal/State strategy for improving the Great Western and Mitchell Highways between Sydney and Dubbo should continue under Auslink 2.

“The construction of a dual carriageway from Penrith to Katoomba will continue to improve safety and travel times, especially when the work now underway around Hazelbrook and Lawson is completed, and when more work is done between Katoomba and Mt Victoria.

“Bob Debus has been a strong and effective advocate for improving the Great Western Highway for over a decade, working with the NSW and Federal Governments to drive the upgrading work on the route from Blaxland to Mt Victoria.

“Completing that work and building a bypass to Lithgow would be a natural extension if Bob was to become the next Member for Macquarie.”