THIS letter is in response to the recent rumblings of a Bells Line “expressway” and the short-sightedness and contempt for the people and road users west of the ranges from state governments of both sides.
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The last bout of arrogance from the National Party Central West conference stated that the cost and engineering challenge was too great to facilitate a tunnel through the mountains. Was this based on an engineering feasibility study? Costings? Or just a pollie who has been caught out by and is trying to hose down a predecessor’s faux promise?
The solution is not a single tunnel, nor is it an expressway over the mountains. It is a combination of both. If anyone has travelled through Switzerland, Austria and northern Italy, they would know these countries use a series of tunnels and bridges to ease grades and travel from point A to B in relatively straight lines.
All of these roads, it must be said, are tolled, but that is the price we pay in a modern society for decent infrastructure.
This series of tunnels and bridges should not just be for cars and trucks. With the building of the inland route, the alignment of the main west railway, which happens to travel through Bathurst, is the closest point between Parkes and Sydney.
It makes sense that the railway from the Botany to Parkes is capable of handling containerised, double-stacked freight that does not need to be lifted off and re-stacked.
This is not possible on the current main west line, not just because of catenaries in the metro system, but structures and tunnels and the circa 1850s alignment.
The next crossing over the Blue Mountains needs to be an infrastructure corridor to support the state for the next 100 years. This means water, power, telecommunications, roads and rail. One alignment point A to B, to be the safest, quickest, most cost-effective and efficient crossing that today's and future generations can rely on.
Australians look at past “nation-building” infrastructure, such as the Snowy Hydro and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and marvel at the forethought. Then you look at the howlers we've had since, including the two-lane (should have been three) M7 that never linked with the M1, so we have to suffer the Pennant Hills car park.
Widening parts of the Bells Line and Great Western Highway may relieve congestion today and garnish a couple of votes, but it will do nothing for tomorrow. Unfortunately, none of this will gain traction with our politicians.
The study to properly scope a work of this size is far beyond our three-year election cycle and beyond the attention span of our media and voting public.
This needs a commitment that no matter which side of the political divide starts the job, both sides will commit to see it through.
The answer is there: do it once and do it right because it will only get more expensive.