THEY are the six short paragraphs that say so much when it comes to the paused Great Western Highway upgrade.
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While the extremely ambitious, only partly funded tunnel from Little Hartley to Blackheath has been at the centre of the tug-of-war between the Nationals and Labor over which party is serious about truly improving the highway, the plans for another section of the road have almost been forgotten.
But a Transport for NSW web page gives an indication of the lead-up work completed on the proposed Katoomba to Blackheath duplication before the project had funding taken from it.
"Between March 2019 and March 2023 Transport for NSW investigated an upgrade of the Great Western Highway between Katoomba and Blackheath," the project page says.
"Transport investigated a wide range of upgrade options and the upgrade option proposed was a surface upgrade of the highway between Katoomba and Blackheath."
The features, according to Transport for NSW, would have included two lanes in both directions between Katoomba and the outskirts of Blackheath; new 400-metre concrete twin bridges on the outskirts of Katoomba; new truck stopping areas near Katoomba and west of Medlow Bath; and new bus stops.
The project page shows community updates stretching from November 2019 to October 2022 and gives access to an almost 200-page submissions report on the project covering topics ranging from biodiversity to construction to surface and ground water.
According to that report, construction was predicted to last for about 36 months for the Katoomba to Medlow Bath section and 30 months for the Medlow Bath to Blackheath section.
"In the September 2023 State Budget, the State Government reallocated funding commitments for the proposed upgrade of the Great Western Highway between Katoomba and Lithgow," the Transport for NSW page says.
"State funding will be redirected to roads across western Sydney and regional NSW to prioritise the road maintenance backlog across NSW.
"In November 2023, following the release of the Federal Infrastructure Pipeline Review, the Federal Government confirmed that it would reallocate its funding commitment for the upgrade of the Great Western Highway between Katoomba and Blackheath and Little Hartley and Lithgow. Federal funding will be redirected to other infrastructure pipeline projects."
The project from Katoomba to Blackheath, according to Transport for NSW, "is currently paused".
Minister's say
WHEN she was in Bathurst just before Christmas to open the upgrade of the road from Kelso to Raglan, Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison was asked about NSW Labor's plans for the Great Western Highway.
Ms Aitchison told the media that "one of the things that the NSW Government is focused on is delivering strategic regional integrated transport plans".
"They're plans that will look across the whole of the regional network to make sure that we are creating proper precincts where people are able to move from town to town effectively, efficiently and safely," she said.
Ms Aitchison said the Federal Government's infrastructure review had put the east and west section duplications of the highway from Lithgow to Katoomba "completely on hold" and "what we're saying is that we are working with them".
"They want to do strategic corridor assessments and they have highlighted this as one that needs to be done," she said.
Duplications of the highway at Medlow Bath (worth $174 million) and Coxs River Road near Little Hartley (worth $232 million) - for which contracts were signed by the previous Coalition government - are going ahead, she emphasised.
"This is a substantial amount of work that will continue and will take us through for the next few years," Ms Aitchison said.
"We will continue to do that work whilst planning on what other opportunities there are for fixing the whole of this corridor to improve it."
