The citizens of the Illawarra can look forward to slow strangulation as Port Kembla expands - and our road and rail system doesn't !
Projections reveal that the F-6 linking this area to Sydney will see traffic double by 2030 and yet there are no plans to extend the dual carriageway beyond Engadine. The road is already reaching saturation at peak, but there are not even forward future plans on the drawing board to bring relief in the next half century.
Then there is rail. We have been promised a faster service to Sydney and there were plans - long abandoned - for a tunnel from Thirroul to Waterfall. Now we learn that the new carriages being built will not be able to go into service anyway because they use too much electricity to be accommodated by the antiquated system servicing the rail network.
There is not even space to park them when they are delivered. Most likely some will be dumped at Waterfall, to become art boards for the graffiti artists who delight in defacing rail stock.
Huge amounts of money have been spent providing toll roads and tunnels in Sydney, and yet traffic in that city remains a disaster. The state government seems Sydney-centric and is ignoring the reality that commerce needs to move people and freigtht from the north coast, the west and the Illawarra if we are to have an economy that actually works.
This need comes at the worst time with the present economic downturn - but sheer survival by way of jobs growth and a surge in commerce requires that transport and people be able to move freely.
Providing this seems beyond the ability of our state government. Survival may depend on the Federal government taking a greater role and assuming responsibility for road and rail nationwide !
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