The highly anticipated Dunheved Road upgrade will be given a push after the Federal Government budgeted a further $63.5 million, bringing the project’s total funding up to $127 million.
The Federal Government first committed $63.5 million towards the project during its 2019 election campaign, with the understanding that the State Government would commit the other half.
However, this deal has since struggled to come to fruition with the Federal Government now having committed the full required funding.
Lindsay MP Melissa McIntosh met with residents last Friday to announce the additional funding and said she was relieved it was now being fully backed.
“During the election there was an expectation that the State Government would come with the other half but for me, I didn’t want to have the uncertainty for the next couple of years whether this road would get fully funded,” she said.
“I kept pushing the Treasurer, the Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister to get this additional money for our community and really pushed for it to be in this budget so the project can get underway. For many years, residents have raised concerns around the safety and congestion on Dunheved Road and that’s why I committed to fight for this project.”
The upgrade of Dunheved Road between Richmond Road and Werrington Road is set to help bust congestion and improve road safety.
The project is currently with Penrith Council in the planning phase, as they undertake a number of investigations and planning assessments.
“Planning a road upgrade does take quite some time to get it right, so the $4.2 million has gone to Council for their planning work and they’ve told me they’re well underway with that,” Ms McIntosh said.
“From there we can get on with getting the road upgraded.”
The project is estimated to support almost 300 direct and indirect jobs during construction.
Ms McIntosh could not confirm a timeframe for the project’s completion but will have a better understanding of it once the planning processes are finalised.
A graduate of Western Sydney University, Nicola Barton is a news journalist with the Western Weekender, primarily covering crime and politics.
