The Blue Mountains Conservation Society has poured cold water on a new push to build a Bells Line Expressway across the Mountains.
Chambers of Commerce from Lithgow and Bathurst are behind the push to give the region a direct and quick link to Sydney.
But the long-touted traffic “solution” was quickly shot down by the respected Blue Mountains organisation.
“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.”
The NSW government has acknowledged something needs to be done to improve road access to Sydney from western NSW but said it was “too early to speculate” on how it would be delivered.
NSW roads minister Melinda Pavey said she understood the importance of the issue but didn’t commit to an expressway or any major overhaul of transport links over the Blue Mountains.
“As a country minister I am very passionate about Central West issues and as roads minister I am keenly aware of the Bells Line of Road issue as local Nationals members routinely knock on my door,” Ms Pavey said.
“I understand that drawing a line on a map is easy but the engineering solution to crossing the Great Dividing Range is very complicated. Any final design solution must weigh the economic benefits with the cost to the taxpayer.”
A failure by the state government to mention the Bells Line Expressway in its transport plan for the next 40 years motivated the renewed push for the project.
The Transport 2056 draft report failed to mention the expressway or any other option to improve traffic flow over the Blue Mountains.
When asked where the government stood on the idea of an expressway, a spokesperson for Ms Pavey was non-committal.
“It is too early to speculate on the engineering solution to create better access to inland NSW from the Sydney region,” they said.
“That is why we have committed in the draft plan to a full and thorough investigation into the road corridors to identify the best solution.”
Mr Morison said “it is not necessary to have a new four-lane expressway for… positive developments to continue to our west”.
“Greater use of the railway and much more modest road improvements will maximise benefits to the Blue Mountains and western New South Wales,” he said.
