They were the closing words of NSW Shadow Minster for Regional Transport David Harris as the petition against the proposed River Street Bridge was debated in parliament on Thursday afternoon.

The petition calls for the River Street bridge to stop, and the funds instead be used for a bypass around the city. It started in 2019 by the Stop the River Street Bridge group.

Mr Harris has called on the NSW government to "find something that will fix the situation for everyone".

"The truth is that [the government] came up with an option, is sticking by it no matter what, and has not and will not look at a bypass option," he said.

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"It does not know if if is better or worse because it will not look at it."

But Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders has scoffed at the 11,000-signature petition.

"I went through the petition and saw signatures from people from a huge range of locations. The interesting thing is that the locations are not at all relevant to a local traffic issue," he said.

"There are signatures from Gympie, Gundagai, Guyra and Walcha. In fact, every single state in Australia has a signature - as does New Zealand."

Mr Saunders said he did not accept the petition as a representation of what people in Dubbo were thinking.

He said the bridge project was born following the floods of December 2010 when the Serisier Bridge was underwater, leaving the city with only one crossing.

"It put lives at risk and it was not acceptable. The flooding also cost the business community in the CBD an estimated $13 million," the Dubbo MP said.

Former Shadow Minister for Finance Clayton Barr has questioned the benefit-cost analysis of the $220 million bridge.

"It does not meet any of the targets. It does not meet any of the policies. It does not meet any of the thresholds that are required at both the NSW government standard and the Australian infrastructure standard," Mr Barr said.

"That's why this project needs to be questioned and rethought. A project at $140 million is different from a project at $220 million and is different from a project at whatever the cost ends up being."

The new bridge was announced by the government in 2016. Following consultation, River Street was announced as the preferred route in 2017.

Bawon MP Roy Butler also spoke against the bridge while Minister for Roads Paul Toole and Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Roads Christopher Gulaptis defended the project

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