Do the figures add up on the highway upgrade?
THE highway upgrade at Kelso is a good job well done, but the costs seem high.
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The original cost was $84 million, but it came in $19m over budget for a total of $103m.
It’s roadway-type construction only, with no major structures other than one bridge.
The distance is approximately two kilometres (2000 metres), which equates to approximately $51,500 per metre.
Is it value for money? It’s a state road, so the state pays, not council, but we all pay state taxes.
It took three years to construct (1095 days approximately). At 2000m, that’s an average of 1.8m per day at a cost of $92,700 per day.
So the question of value for money arises.
Based on the original costings of $84m/$51,500 per metre, reduced by a conservative estimate of 60 per cent ($20,600 per metre) due to no major construction work (two culverts and a possible problem passing over existing service mains), the costing of the now being suggested reconstruction to the eastern side of Raglan (3000 metres x $20,600 per metre) is approximately $61.8m.
Perhaps it’s about time someone in authority asked all elected governments to plainly explain and/or justify the amount of public money being spent on government projects. After all, it is our money and we have the right to know.
M R Griffiths, Bathurst
Bite the bullet and dig the Blue Mountains tunnel
I REFER to a recent article in the Western Advocate in which two public servants in roads irrationally recommended that vast sums of our money be spent making the Bells Line of Road an expressway.
Anyone who has used Bells Line of Road could see the stupidity of this proposal due to the ruggedness of the geography and geology. There is barely a straight stretch of road on Bells. It would cost a fortune and the result would very probably be very disappointing. An expressway is sheer folly.
Witness the wasted money and time spent on upgrading the Katoomba/Victoria Pass Road across the Blue Mountains. The enormous expenditure has not reduced travel time due to the ascent from the Penrith Basin, passing through built-up areas with traffic lights and speed limits, and the descent of Victoria Pass.
An expressway provides flat, straight driving and has no traffic lights. One hundred kilometres per hour could realistically be expected with a tunneled expressway: the 200km trip to Bathurst would be halved to two hours.
Instead of throwing good money after bad, let us bite the bullet and tunnel through the Blue Mountains.
This would ease the pressure on the Sydney Basin, which has become landlocked, and open up the glorious Western Plains and outback NSW to our capital.
I know of a plan, rejected in the past by the State Government, which requires only eight kilometres of tunneling.
K P Powell, Bathurst
Seymour elected president and Crawford secretary
BATHURST Legacy Widows’ Club held its annual general meeting at the Bathurst RSL Club on Monday, March 20. Peter Nugent, treasurer of the club, chaired the meeting.
Elected were president Marcia Seymour, secretary Florence Crawford and competition organiser Maisie Scott. Members at the meeting enjoyed a luncheon provided by the Bathurst Legacy Widows’ Club.
Competition winners were Peg Oliver and Cath Squires. Cath will continue to send birthday card wishes to members.
Tracy Lewes from Legacy office collected fees. Tracy will organise a bus outing for our June meeting (further details later).
The next meeting of the club will be on Tuesday, April 18 due to our meeting day falling on Easter Monday.
