NSW Election 2019: Labor pledges $150m for Bandon Rd

Labor has promised a $150 million allocation towards constructing a road that links Marsden Park to Vineyard and would most advantage the ailing Riverstone shopping centre.

Riverstone traffic.

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Labor has promised a $150 million allocation towards constructing a road linking Marsden Park to Vineyard, which would most advantage the ailing Riverstone shopping centre.

Opposition roads spokeswoman Jodi McKay is due to make an announcement, along with Riverstone state Labor candidate Annemarie Christie, this afternoon.

A Bandon Rd bypass would alleviate Riverstone traffic.

Under the plan, the 6km corridor would link Richmond Rd at Marsden Park with Windsor Rd at Vineyard through Marsden Park North, Riverstone West, Riverstone and Vineyard.

The four-lane arterial road would include a new rail underpass at Riverstone.

Mrs Christie said the project would most benefit Riverstone by allowing trucks to reach the industrial area without driving through the Garfield Rd and Riverstone Pde intersection and through the rail crossing.

“The main aim is to get the heavy traffic out of the town centre because it makes the intersection very dangerous,’’ she said.

Annemarie Christie and Michael Daley.

Mrs Christie said despite the State Government’s 2015 plans to build the road, it failed to allocate funds for it.

“There’s nothing wrong with the Bandon Rd bypass but they’ve got nothing planned for it,’’ she said.

“They haven’t allocated any funding or planning or costing for the road when they went away and did the homework.”

But Riverstone state Liberal MP Kevin Conolly has dismissed Labor’s promise as half-baked.

He said its $150 million estimate was ludicrous.

The railway crossing at Riverstone cripples trade and traffic.

“Labor would be lucky to get half the Bandon Rd project for the money they have suggested,’’ he said.

“Or are they only proposing to build a two-lane road?

“And this latest phony promise fits the pattern of others they have made during this campaign: they have not said when they would do it.”

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