Gary Smith, the organiser behind the Moruya TeenSafe Fix The Bloody Highway campaign spoke at length today of his disappointment that there was nothing at all in the NSW State budget for the Princes Highway south of Batemans Bay to the Victorian border. In the announcements on Tuesday not a cent was forthcoming to any road works along the Princes Highway within the entire Bega electorate. Gary and many others have recognised that $1.5 billion has been set aside for the highway north that will go into the Shoalhaven with the Berry bypass, Albion Rail bypass, Nowra Bridge and pavement treatments. It is agreed that there is a need to slowly upgrade the transport corridor between Nowra and Sydney as Nowra's (and even Ulladulla's) industrial section grows however of surprise was that following such a public outcry via the Fairfax Fix It Now campaign and Gary's own Fix the Bloody Highway campaign there was nothing at all forthcoming for the Bega Electorate. It has been recently argued that there has been considerable funding put in place for the Dignams Creek bypass and for the safety works at Dalmeny and south of Bodalla however as a percentage of the network this is indeed small change compared to the massive injections of money going into metropolitan Sydney. The commitment of $300m to the replacement of the Nelligen Bridge and the Batemans Bay Bridge was made some time ago. In reality the Nelligen replacement is part of any long term asset renewal program and while the Batemans Bay Bridge is only 60 years old its replacement has risen to the top a good twenty years before its due replacement date. Gary Smith is quite clear when he says "Bridges haven't killed anyone and the $110m earmarked for the Batemans Bay Bridge could be better spent improving our transport corridor and treating high risk areas."
Above: Gary Smith of TeenSafe Moruya voicing concerns that there was NO NSW State budget committment for the Princes Highway south of Batemans Bay June 21st 2018
