Federal Member for Hume, Alby Schultz, has called on the Rudd Government to stop playing political games and either commit to the complete upgrade of the Barton Highway or tell his constituents the truth.
While Mr Schultz openly welcomed the road’s improvements, he expressed fears the Federal Government would scrap the Coalition’s election promise of a $264 million Barton Highway facelift.
“Any work that’s undertaken on the Barton Highway is good news. I use the road on a regular basis so I know how tricky it can be,” Mr Schultz told the Tribune.
“But the issue now is, are they [Rudd Government] going to commit themselves to the pledge made by the then Howard Government to spend $264 million on the duplication of the Barton Highway? That’s the issue that needs to be addressed by the Labor Party,” he said.
In the lead up to the 2007 Federal Election, the Coalition promised it would turn the state’s most dangerous highway into a dual lane freeway by the year 2014 should it be re-elected for a fifth straight term.
Mr Schultz said he had growing doubts about whether the duplication would be finished on time. “We all know projects of this magnitude take time. Take the Coolac [80km south-west of Yass] bypass for example, that took three to four years to finish. If the Government doesn’t commit to the major upgrade within the next year I can’t see it being finished by 2014,” he said.
Improvements to the stretch of road known as ‘Capricorn Corner’ and the bend approaching the Gounyan Road turn-off are set to be completed by the middle of next year.
Yass Valley mayor, Nic Carmody, labelled the upgrades a ‘farce’ and said the patience of Yass-to-Canberra commuters was wearing thin. “It’s a joke! They’re patching up something that was identified as a high priority 20 years ago,” Cr Carmody said.
“When you have independent mobs like the NRMA doing studies on the road and declaring it one of the worst in the country, it’s pretty obvious something needs to be done.”
Cr Carmody was critical of both the past and present Federal Governments. He found Mr Schultz’s criticisms laughable given the Howard Government had 12 years to fix up the road.
“Political priority is obviously not high in this electorate… it’s all political,” he said. “Every time I hear sirens screeching out that way I have to do a head count of my family and loved ones and work out whether or not they’re on the road.”
State Member for Burrinjuck, Katrina Hodgkinson, welcomed the minor improvements but said the work was hardly anything to get excited about. “Last year I strongly criticised the Rudd Labor government for failing to honour even this minor promise,” Ms Hodgkinson said.
“Now two years after Federal Labor made their promise, and some 47 accidents later, it seems the Rudd Labor government still has to be reminded about their promises before they think about honouring them,” she said.
“The only way to stop the Barton carnage is to fully duplicate the highway.”
Yass Valley Living Support Service volunteer, Lorraine Glover, takes residents through to Canberra on a regular basis for doctors appointments or checkups. She was thrilled to hear two of the road’s hot-spots were on the mend.
“It’s the best thing since sliced bread,” she said. “It’s a dangerous stretch of road and the sooner they can get the whole lot patched up, the better. I think that’s how everyone feels,” she said.
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