Epping Bridge upgrade - anyone know when it might even start?
Hubert Lam
AlienChex
ed24f1
Nihat
Sydney motorists will be promised $220 million to upgrade one of the worst bottlenecks in the city’s north-west with a wider bridge across the railway at Epping Station in the key federal electorate of Bennelong ahead of the May 21 election.
The federal and NSW governments will outline the 50:50 spending plan on Tuesday with a pledge to widen the road and footpaths around the station, which has become a major growth centre with a metro station as well as rail.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will pledge the funding with the Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Simon Kennedy, in a move to shore up support when Labor candidate Jerome Laxale is making a bid to win the marginal seat.
While the state government promised $50 million for the Epping Station bridge four years ago, the intersection remains a choke point where Beecroft Road meets Epping Road, a significant route to the city.
The work will include widening the bridge with an additional westbound lane and widening the footpaths over the railway line as well. This would provide three westbound and three eastbound lanes as well as a new median strip and a cycleway over the westbound side of the bridge.
Morrison will announce the spending on Tuesday with a claim that the funding is made possible by a strong economy, stepping up an argument against Labor leader Anthony Albanese on economic management.
NSW Liberal Premier Dominic Perrottet and Transport Minister Natalie Ward will also commit the state’s share of the funding toward a project they have listed as a planned project for some time.
The Liberal Party held Bennelong by a margin of 6.9 per cent at the last election but longstanding member John Alexander is retiring at this poll and Labor has named the seat as a key target in its bid to form government.
Kennedy, a former McKinsey & Company consultant who was born in West Ryde and went to Epping Boys High School, is trying to hold the seat for the Liberals against Laxale, a councillor on Ryde Council since 2012, including five years as mayor.
“Traffic congestion is one of the top concerns that has been raised with me across the electorate,” Kennedy said.
The pitch to voters in Bennelong will follow Morrison’s visit to the state’s south coast on Monday to commit $2.5 billion for new helicopters for HMAS Albatross near Nowra, as well as $360 million to expand facilities at the naval air station.
In a relatively quiet day of campaigning on Monday after his debate with Albanese on Sunday night, Morrison visited the Sikorsky Australia maintenance facility at the Nowra airfield in the federal electorate of Gilmore.
The government lost Gilmore at the last election to
Labor MP Fiona Phillips, a former TAFE teacher and civilian in the defence
industry at HMAS Albatross, who holds the seat by a margin of 2.6 per cent.
Former state transport minister Andrew Constance is seeking to retake the seat,
which includes much of his former state seat of Bega.
As well as Monday’s defence spending, the government announced $85 million last week for the Manildra wheat, starch and gluten plant on the Shoalhaven River to help it replace coal with gas for its energy.
Manildra has been a long-time donor to the Coalition. The $85 million was described as an investment by the Clean Energy Finance Corp (CEFC) but the terms were not disclosed. The project is also receiving a $50 million guarantee from Export Finance Australia and Manildra has registered with the Clean Energy Regulator to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units by shifting to a cleaner fossil fuel.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor visited the Manildra plant with Constance on May 5, the same day the CEFC issued a press release announcing its investment.
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Hubert Lam
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Hubert Lam
Nihat
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Sam L
Sent: Saturday, 3 September 2022 4:08 PM
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Subject: Re: [Aussie Highways] Re: Epping Bridge upgrade - anyone know when it might even start?
Hubert Lam
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Hubert Lam
AlienChex
Nihat
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