Wakehurst Parkway: Northern beaches traffic black spot gets $150m funding boost
A $150m funding boost will go towards upgrading a notorious northern beaches’ traffic black spot as part of ‘record’ spending on the region in the NSW Budget.
Manly
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Work to fix one of the northern beaches’ most complained about roads is set to get a $150 million funding boost.
The money, to be spent over the next three years, was set aside in the NSW Budget to make Wakehurst Parkway safer and improve traffic flow, transport officials said.
This cash splash is part of a raft of spending allocations in the State Government’s pre-election budget including $340m to pay for the upgrade — from two lanes to four — of the 3.4km stretch of Mona Vale Rd from Terrey Hills to Ingleside.
Other major funding shots in the arm include $16m towards relocating The Forest High School to Allambie Heights to make way for the new Frenchs Forest Town Centre as well
$11 million to continue upgrading Mona Vale Public School, which has a total project cost of $52.8 million.
But only $1m has been found to go towards the proposed Beaches Link tunnel, confirming the government has decided to put it on hold for the time being.
Transport for NSW said $40m will be allocated to Wakehurst Parkway in the next financial year. Then $110m will be spent in the following two years.
This State Government funding is not related to previous announcements regarding Wakehurst Parkway made by the former federal Liberal MP for Mackellar, Jason Falinski.
In March Mr Falinski said Wakehurst Parkway would be widened from two to four lanes, between Dreadnought Rd at Oxford Falls and Aquatic Dr at Frenchs Forest, after $75m was set aside in the federal budget.
The NSW Government has previously provided $18.1 million in funding towards flood mitigation works to be delivered by the Northern Beaches Council. It added another $7.6 million towards the flood works in this Budget. This flood spending is not part of the $40 million funding package announced in this NSW State Budget.
“The NSW Government has committed $40 million as part of the 2022-23 NSW State Budget to begin early investigations to upgrade safety and capacity on the Wakehurst Parkway, north of Warringah Road,” a Transport for NSW spokesman said.
“Planning and investigation works, as well as, business case development, will commence later this year.”
Liberal Pittwater MP Rob Stokes said more than $400 million has been secured in the Budget towards major infrastructure projects.
Mr Stokes described it as “a record investment in local education, road, transport and health initiatives”.
Projects include $15.5m to begin the upgrade of the Narrabeen Education Campus; $2.4m for pedestrian/cycling link between Newport and Bilgola beaches; $1.09m for ongoing campus configuration improvements at Mona Vale Hospital.
“This is a record investment in Pittwater and enables our community’s largest infrastructure projects to be completed,” Mr Stokes said.
“We’ve had great momentum over recent years and it’s exciting to build upon the major works already underway throughout our community.
“The Mona Vale Road Upgrade is the largest ever infrastructure investment in our community and this budget confirms the project will be completed in its entirety
“By supporting key infrastructure projects and local services we can grow our economy, create jobs and help boost our local businesses.”
Liberal Manly MP James Griffin said $1.9m would towards more improvements and finalisation of the Northern Beaches B-line express bus service.
other spending commitments included a $5.8m upgrade to Manly Village Public School; $5.4m to complete the Manly Young Adolescent Hospice; $4.3m to demolish the old Manly Sea Life aquarium and build a new public open space area and; $234,000 for various upgrades to Manly Vale Public School.
About $55m will be set aside to upgrade and improve the North Head Sewage Treatment Plant to remove odour and improve sewage treatment capacity.
“From upgrading of local schools, to improving access to childcare and creating more open space, this budget is full of great news for people in Manly and indeed the entire Northern Beaches,” Mr Griffin said.
“I am particularly proud of the strong investment in preventing domestic violence and supporting vulnerable women.”
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