If the F6 extension is built, you can forget about getting a free ride.
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While visiting Kiama on Friday morning, Roads Minister Melinda Pavey said that road will definitely come with a toll.
A cabinet-in-confidence report suggested the toll for the full length of the extension would be $10.
Though she said, because the extension had yet to be approved, no toll amount had been set.
“We don’t know what they final pricing is because we don’t know what the final project is,” Ms Pavey said.
“We haven’t made any decisions about how the project may look.
“But what we’re saying is that type of project is going to require a toll. We haven’t come to any conclusion on the project itself but we are being open and upfront and saying, ‘if it is going to happen, it will be partly funded by tolls’.”
Ms Pavey said the government’s research showed motorists can deal with tolls if it reduced their travel time.
“I think the community are accepting that if you want to get there faster you need to pay that toll and if you’re not in such a hurry there’s always another option, there’s always another route,” she said.
There are two main road projects planned for the South Coast – the Albion Park Rail Bypass and the Berry to Bomaderry Princes Highway upgrade.
Expressions of interest have been called for in both projects and Ms Pavey said working on both roads at the same time won’t cause issues when it comes to finding contractors.
“We’ll have a lot of people coming down from the north of the state,” she said.
.. if it is going to happen, it will be partly funded by tolls.”
- Roads Minister Melinda Pavey on the F6 extension
“The Pacific Highway finishes in a couple of years, a big part of that finishes in eight months. So we’re expecting contractors and workers will move from the north to come to the south of the state ready for these two significant [projects].”
The Roads Minister was in Kiama to attend the Southern Region Industry Forum, which is a way of informing companies that are looking to build government projects what is being planned.
“We’ve got a lot of work coming down the pipeline in roads, as well as health.” she said.
“So it’s about letting them know what the pipeline looks like and the timing of that, but also so we can listen to what they have to tell us about how we might all be able to do these jobs better.”