The Milton-Ulladulla bypass has been bypassed, again.
One of the regions most discussed infrastructure projects has been labelled as a medium to long-term project by the local state member, Shelley Hancock, despite plans for the proposed bypass route being discussed with the community in 2014.
“It is a medium to long-term project,” she said.
“It certainly hasn’t disappeared and I am ensuring it doesn’t.”
While the RMS have been acquiring houses along the proposed route, Ms Hancock explained the project has been pushed further down the to-do list due to a lack of funding.
“It hasn’t gotten up yet due to a number of projects occurring from Wollongong to the Victorian border,” she said.
“The Princes Highway projects are costing us a fortune.
“We are spending the money and making sure we are doing these jobs well.”
Ms Hancock said she has requested the project remain on the infrastructure ‘wish list’ but with a number of projects more urgently needed and a lack of federal funding contributions it will remain on the back burner for some years to come.
“Until we finish a lot of the major projects on the table, like to Nowra Bridge it won’t be done,” she said.
“It doesn’t currently meet the cost benefit ratio and I’m not terribly happy about that.
“The other issue is that we had quite a lot of assistance from the federal government when John Howard was in for the Princes Highway.
“Since we came into government in 2011 there has been very little assistance for the Princes Highway from the federal government, if any.”
However, GIlmore MP Ann Sudmalis maintains federal funding for Gilmore roads exceeds the national average.
“If we are going to talk about roads, we really should be acknowledging the millions of dollars the Federal Government has poured into the region in the past years,” she said in a statement to Fairfax Media.
“During the last term of government the Commonwealth spent $51 million on specific road projects in the Gilmore electorate such as upgrading Turpentine Road and re-routing Little Forest Road to remove a known accident black spot.
“The total funding includes $15 million provided through the Black Spot Programme – one of the highest amounts in any Australian electorate.”
The latest Black Spot Programme funding announced earlier in the year allocated $3.17 million for the region including upgrades to Bendalong Road at Conjola and new roundabouts in Ulladulla.
The bypass has been on the table for three decades with the Shoalhaven Local Environment Plan of 1985 indicating a road reservation to accommodate for the construction of a bypass, to be located approximately 1km west of the town centre.
Again, the bypass is listed as future infrastructure project in the Milton/Ulladulla Structure Plan prepared by Shoalhaven City Council in 1996.
Finally, according to the Shoalhaven City Council, Ulladulla Town Centre Contributions Plan of 2009 the Milton-Ulladulla bypass if targeted for construction in approximately 2025-2030.
It is estimated a bypass constructed in 2026 would accommodate approximately 10,000 vehicles per day.
