Opposition demands release of bridge fix business case
The deputy Opposition leader has demanded the business case key to guiding the replacement of the ailing Barron River bridge be made publicly available.
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The deputy Opposition leader has demanded the business case key to guiding the replacement of the ailing Barron River bridge be made publicly available.
It was revealed last week at a State Development, Infrastructure and Works Committee that the document is now complete and pre-construction work to replace the bridge has begun.
But the government has to date withheld the contents of the business case.
It was stated at the meeting the government would seek funding for the major civil construction project at the next state budget and until then $15m already in the kitty has allowed the project to keep moving forward.
“The (business) case has been completed and we have an indicative funding envelope for what is required to replace that bridge,” TMR deputy director general of infrastructure Julie Mitchell said.
On Friday deputy Opposition leader Cameron Dick travelled to Kuranda.
Standing in front of the beleaguered bridge over the Barron River he said the people of the Far North deserved to know what the LNP’s bridge solution looks like.
“The LNP have been really silent on what their genuine plan is for this bridge,” he said.
“They’ve not talked about a specific replacement or a rebuild, they’ve talked about a solution. “Well, time’s up.”
This month the independent statutory body tasked with providing advice to government, Infrastructure Australia, received a proposal titled “Barron River bridge upgrade” but details of the project remained scant.
Labor tourism spokesman Michael Healy said given the significant increase in garbage truck movements across the bridge since a fire destroyed the Portsmith transfer station now was the time for certainty regarding the future of the critical Tablelands link.
“So that’s increased pressure on the bridge,” he said.
“We allocated $450m to rebuild this, what we need to know is, what are the LNP doing with this bridge?
“Are they going to rebuild it? Are they going to replace it?
“Please release the business case, so the people of the Far North will have an understanding of what your intentions are.”
Mr Dick said the Opposition was holding the LNP to the same standard expected of Labor when the party was in power.
“They demanded that business cases be released, and clearly that was their new policy framework,’ he said.
“It’s not good enough for the transport minister, Brent Mickelberg or the Deputy Premier, the Minister for Infrastructure, Jared Bleijie, to be sitting on this business case.
“We’re just saying, stick to your word.”
A total of $15m was allocated by the former government for pre-construction work in June last year for the project that’s expected to cost in the order of $450m and take six years to complete.
Rolling repair work and weight limits have been imposed on the bridge since October 2020 when routine inspections identified fatigue in some steel elements of the structure.
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