Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis has her sites set on securing federal funding for the Princes Highway and having the road recognised as one of strategic importance.
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Following calls from South Coast state member Shelley Hancock for the federal government to commit to funding the highway, Mrs Sudmalis said she was working on getting more money for the main road.
The federal government had funded 80 per cent of upgrades on the NSW Government Pacific Highway, something Mrs Hancock wants for the Princes Highway.
“Whether it will be 80/20 or if it will be 50/50 [for the Princes Highway], I’m not sure. But whatever we get, it is better than what we have now, which is a little bit of funding for an accident spot or a bit of funding for a black spot, or an election commitment like Little Forrest Road,” Mrs Sudmalis said.
“The Pacific Highway funding will probably finish in about 2019/2020, there are a number of us on who are located on the Princes Highway who have gone to the minister and said what about us. It is definitely being developed.”
Mrs Hancock said the state couldn't fix the road alone.
“If we don’t get assistance from the federal government, how do we do it at a state level. We don’t get the revenue they get. If they don’t start to help and start to get serious about assisting us, we are just not going to go anywhere,” she said.
Mrs Sudmalis said she had met with the federal minister for infrastructure about having the Princes Highway recognised as a road of strategic importance.
“This isn’t a new concept. I have been working with the different ministers for infrastructure to try and get the Princes Highway recognised as a road of strategic importance,” she said.
“The previous minister, Darren Chester, has done that. We has put $5m into a study to establish that this is a significant road and it should be addressed by federal funding.
“I wrote to the state members in the middle of last year to write to the minister to support me in getting this recognised because you have to go through due process.”