Funding delays hit $1.7b Moruya Bypass needed for new mega hospital
Funding delays for an enormous $1.7 billion bypass aimed to ease traffic congestion in a NSW South Coast town have caused genuine concern for the opening of a huge regional hospital.
The South Coast News
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Funding delays for a “needed” bypass with an extreme price tag – designed to tackle serious traffic congestion in a NSW South Coast town – have caused genuine concern for the future opening of a massive $330m hospital.
The $1.7 billion Moruya Bypass was first announced in 2019, aimed at easing peak-time traffic issues in the southern Eurobodalla town of 4000 people.
It is also considered crucial to the success of the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital, with the bypass expected to improve access to the future level four hospital significantly.
However, with construction on the bypass yet to commence and funding delays, it is clear the 9km highway will not be complete in time for the hospital opening in late 2027.
As a result, Eurobodalla mayor Mathew Hatcher revealed his council was now working with the NSW Government to find and implement other solutions to fix highway choke points at Moruya.
“We’ve asked [Transport for NSW] to model flow through the traffic lights where the highway intersects Church St, and also to look at the Shore and Queen St intersections for ways to improve traffic flow, access, safety and parking,” he said.
“Council wants to attract more tourists to Eurobodalla and that means more traffic.”
Transport for NSW told Eurobodalla Council they would soon undertake work assisting traffic flow on the highway just north of the Moruya River.
“We appreciate these short-term measures by the department, helping with highway congestion until the Moruya bypass attracts funding,” Mr Hatcher said.
The projects eye-watering estimated $1.7b price tag comes from the chosen route including the state’s longest land bridge at a whopping 3.8km long.
“The bridge would cross the flood-plain and Moruya River and span from north of Dooga Creek to south of South Head Rd, as well as a bridge over Malabar Creek,” a Transport NSW spokeswoman previously said.
“Construction of the 3.8km bridge comes with increased complexities, longer time frames and cost, due to the methodology required to build in a flood-plain with soft soil.”
The Transport for NSW spokeswoman said rising construction and material costs would also impact the project.
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