THERE have been renewed calls to build a Bells Line Expressway, although the state government has been largely non-committal to replacing Bells Line of Road.
Bells Line of Road is one of the main arteries connecting the Hawkesbury, and greater Sydney, to the Central West, along with the Great Western Highway.
A trip along Bells Line of Road to Lithgow is roughly an hour and a quarter, and is fraught with danger, with a number of blind corners.
In January alone, there have been calls from two politicians as well as two Central West business chambers for the road to be built, arguing there would be many economic and safety benefits in doing so.
Calls for a road upgrade aren’t new. In fact, a lobby group has even created by Bathurst Region Council called the Bells Line Expressway Group, which spruiks the purported benefits of the project.
Government ministers Troy Grant and Paul Toole, from the Nationals Party, both gave half-hearted endorsements for the project.
Mr Grant told the Central Western Daily, which is published by Fairfax Media, which also publishes the Gazette, that he supported the project, but offered little else.
Meanwhile, Mr Toole said he “would continue to advocate for short-, medium- and long-term outcomes for the Bells Line” but didn’t answer any questions about his position on an expressway.
On January 22, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party member for Orange Phil Donato slammed the government for a lack of action on upgrading the Sydney route, saying “they have been in power since 2011 and nothing has happened”.
“It isn’t a new concept, this has been around for 15 years or more,” he said.
He added that in his opinion, the $2 billion being used to upgrade stadiums in Sydney would be spent building a better link between Sydney and the Central West.
“I can’t see the cost-benefit of knocking down two stadiums and replacing them when you could put that money towards a nation-building project that would have regional, state and national benefits,” he said.
“The time has come...It’s important for the region to be able to develop.
“It’s important for transport and freight, and for improving accessibility to the metropolitan area. It would be much quicker, more efficient and safer.”
Mr Donato’s comments follow ones made earlier in the month by the Bathurst Business Chamber president Angus Edwards, who is supportive of the expressway.
Similarly, the Lithgow Chamber of Commerce president Angela O’Connor backed the idea, as did Nationals MLC Rick Colless.
Not all are in favour of it, however, with the Blue Mountains Conservation Society speaking out against the project.
“Factors which have caused several previous rejections of an expressway in the Bells Line of Road area do not appear to have changed,” said Blue Mountains Conservation Society spokesman Don Morison.
“While significant ‘spot’ upgrades are being carried out on sections of the Bells Line of Road west of Kurrajong Heights, a four-lane expressway in this area would be highly disruptive to sensitive sections of the World Heritage Listed Blue Mountains National Park.
“The notion that economic benefits would result for the Central West and Orana regions of New South Wales overlooks other factors influencing the future of those regions.”
Mr Toole and Mr Grant both also pointed out the government had been upgrading Bells Line of Road over recent years, adding a number of overtaking lanes along the artery, which is largely one-lane in both directions.
