Dubbo Regional Council mayor Ben Shields has urged the NSW government to fund the city’s ring road.
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Cr Shields is calling for the road to be part of the upcoming NSW government budget.
The $144 million River Street bridge was not going to take any traffic off west Dubbo roads, he said.
“Dubbo has always been a transport hub. That’s something we are proud of. However with the growth of our city as well as increased through traffic on the Newell resulting in traffic congestion, we need to make sure that the state government recognises that our capacity to cope with population growth and an increase in traffic numbers is limited,” Cr Shields said.
In March, councillors voted in support of Cr Shields’ re-commitment to the former Dubbo City Council’s road transportation strategy, which included Newell Highway ring road.
At the time, councillor Vicki Etheridge said she feared if the third bridge was constructed at River Street there wouldn’t been a chance to establish a ring road.
“I’m saying if we don’t stop this River Street Bridge now, it won’t be in my lifetime before we get the option that this community so desperately needs,” Cr Etheridge said.
Cr Shields said he was aware the ring road was a lot of money to build.
“If the state is to proceed with the River Street Bridge plan, I will be looking for an absolute guarantee that the ring road will also be funded and built within a reasonable time frame,” Cr Shields said.
The mayor said traffic on the Newell Highway was growing and there were more trucks than ever sweeping through town.
“We have got to be able to look the people of West Dubbo in the eye and tell them that we are not ignoring the traffic congestion that is overwhelming them,” he said.
“We have also got to be able to tell the whole community that we agree with them when saying large trucks rattling through town close to schools is simply not safe and a plan is in the pipeline to rectify the situation.”
The NSW budget will be handed down on June 19.