"THE problems of geometry" won't be the only issue to be faced with the proposed upgrade of the Great Western Highway between Lithgow and Katoomba (Western Advocate, January 6).
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The main issue is the cost-benefit, especially given that no business case has been prepared for this project.
The current state government does this a lot. It carries out projects first and then gets a business case together afterwards.
Most of this state government's big projects have run way over budget and overtime: WestConnex, Sydney CBD-south-east light rail, stadiums, pedestrian bridges at Moore Park, Metro and Powerhouse.
Transport for NSW western region director Alistair Lunn says that the money has been committed (Western Advocate, December 20, 2019).
So the government plans to spend $250m (possibly up to $500m, given its record) just to save one minute of travel time.
And this project is not even on Infrastructure Australia's list of priorities for regional NSW for the next 10 years.
