Fleet and freight backers join proponents calling for upgrade
Picton Road Motorway Coalition (PRMC), an alliance of community and business interests, including fleet owners, has coalesced around the need for the complete upgrade of Picton Road to motorway standard by 2025.
The grouping is now launched officially, with NSW Liberal Member for Wollondilly, Nathaniel Smith MP, the Lord Mayor of Wollongong, Gordon Bradbery and the Mayor for Wollondilly, Matthew Deeth, leading the charge.
On the fleet and freight side, the grouping is backed by Murrell Freight Lines, Cleary Bros and NSW Ports.
“The Coalition has been formed to represent businesses and community members across the Illawarra and Wollondilly council areas affected by economic and capacity constraints and safety issues posed by the existing road,” PRMC states.
“Backed by the Illawarra Business Chamber, it has already been joined by a large and influential group of major businesses that are affected by the limitations of the existing road; all of whom support the economic case for upgrading Picton Road to dual lane separated motorway.”
Currently, the 32km Picton Road has only 8km of passing lanes in both directions at intervals and has seen 90 accidents between 2012 and 2016.
It is said to carry a high ratio of freight traffic, at 25 per cent, with traffic – 20,800 vehicles per day and 5,200 during peak hours – growing at 14 per cent a year.
“My members have been clear that this is an economic issue as well as a safety one, and our evidence base demonstrates clearly that Picton Road is one of the most heavily congested freight corridors in the state,” Illawarra Business Chamber executive director Adam Zarth says.
“The future growth of the economies of the Illawarra and south-western Sydney rely on Picton Road being upgraded to four, separated lanes before it reaches capacity in 2025, and so we now need governments to deliver this vital infrastructure.”
Last month, Transport for NSW said it starting safety improvements along a 1.7km section of Picton Road at Cordeaux, on the route that was the focus of an ATN feature on tackling head-on accidents involving trucks.
Read about the Transport for NSW’s Picton Road improvements, here
Research commissioned in 2017 by Illawarra First and the NRMA found that Picton Road will reach peak hour capacity in 2025, and that the duplication project would deliver $42 million per annum in economic benefits and save the community 3,100 vehicle hours per day, the grouping notes.
It calls on the Commonwealth and NSW governments to agree to jointly fund the upgrade of the road to motorway standard by 2025, including the Wilton Interchange at the Hume Highway.
Over six weeks, the PRMC will be inviting businesses and community members alike to join the campaign and show their support, and will highlight six fundamental reasons for why Picton Road should be upgraded.
Foundation members Smith, Wollongong City Council, Wollondilly Shire Council, and the Illawarra Business Chamber today invited residents and businesses to join the push.
“The state of Picton Road is a major issue for both residents and businesses in South-Western Sydney, and so I’m joining with them today to call for a significant upgrade of the road for the benefit of both community safety and the local economy,” Smith says.
“I will be speaking with my Parliamentary colleague the Minister for Transport and Roads, The Hon Andrew Constance MP, and my federal colleague the Member for Hume, The Hon Angus Taylor MP, to express the concerns of businesses and the community. I will be strongly advocating for the funding of this project.”
Bradbery highlights the economic and strategic case for the upgrade
“Picton Road carries nearly 21,000 vehicles a day, which is growing at around eight percent per year. It is a vital corridor to and from our region, no longer up to task and largely neglected by government,” he says.
“I’m happy to be joining the state member Nathaniel Smith, as well as our friends from Wollondilly as a cross-regional partnership to get this road upgraded.
“As chair of the Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation of Councils, I acknowledge the significance of Picton Road is a vital east-west economic link for the region and beyond.
“It has major implications for the flow of materials, goods and services in and out of Port Kembla, the Illawarra and the South Coast. This upgrade would have major benefits well beyond the immediate area and would significantly improve our State transport links.”
For Deeth, there are local amenity needs to be addressed.
“Today we’re calling on businesses and the community to join our coalition and ask state and federal governments to take action to deliver a Picton Road Motorway for our growing communities,” he says.
“With the significant population growth we expect in the Wollondilly over coming years, it is essential that we have a commitment to a road that is fit for purpose.”