POPULAR WORDS

July 23, 2010

A re-elected federal Labor government will increase its investment in the Bega Bypass in NSW to improve traffic conditions.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese yesterday announced the Government will double its investment to $68 million, with NSW contributing $17 million.

The 3.5km bypass in Bega, less than three hours south of Canberra, will extend from the south side of the existing Bega River Bridge to Finucane Lane to the south.

New bridge crossings will also be constructed at High Street and Ravenswood Street, with two major access points to be built linking the town, the bypass and properties to the west of the bypass.

“Once completed in 2013, the new bypass would deliver safer, quicker driving conditions along this section of the Princes Highway and take more than 500 trucks a day off the main street of Bega,” Albanese says.

“I am now confident we have a solution not just for the next three years but for the next three decades, one which better reflects the community’s expectations and the region’s long term infrastructure needs.”

Environmental approvals and detailed design work will be completed by the middle of next year, with construction to start sometime in 2011.

Albanese says the additional funding stems from savings from other projects in the Government’s $37 billion Nation Building Program, which was established to bankroll road, rail and port infrastructure projects.