Country drivers have voted the Great Western Highway the worst road in Western NSW in the National Roads & Motorists’ Association (NRMA’s) latest “Seeing Red on Roads” survey.
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Almost 12,000 motorists across NSW and the ACT took part in this year’s survey. Local motorists were frustrated with poor road surface, congestion and not enough lanes on the Great Western Highway.
NRMA Director Graham Blight was not surprised that once again the Great Western Highway was one of the top three worst roads in the region.
“Our members have been crying out for a dual-carriageway crossing of the Great Dividing Range for some time now and who could blame them considering that trucks and cars share the same route mapped by explorers over 200 years ago,” Mr Blight said.
‘Whether it’s the Great Western Highway or Bells Line Of Road, a plan is urgently needed to help get cars and trucks over the Great Dividing Range safely and within a reasonable time.”
NRMA members also voted that poor road surface was the biggest problem on the Gocup Road (between Gocup and Tumut in Southern NSW), the Mt Lindesay Road linking Tenterfield and southern Queensland, the Olympic Highway, and the Mitchell Highway.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Western NSW roads in this year’s survey: The New England and Newell Highways were examples of what happens when good roads are built.
Last year, the New England Highway was ranked the worst road in Western NSW.
Mr Blight said there had been a lot of work done on the road – particularly at the southern end around the Hunter Expressway.
“As a result, New England dropped from the most frustrating road in 2013 right down to the 19th worst this year,” Mr Blight said.
“The Newell Highway continues to slip down the list from one of the worst and is out of the top five now.
“There has been a lot of work done on passing lanes, rumble strips and consistent speed zones.
“Not all upgrades require billions of dollars to save lives and the Newell Highway is a good example of using innovation and technology to make a road safer.”
Mr Blight said the Australian and NSW Governments should take note of these results and focus on fixing the roads members have voted as the worst in Western NSW.
“We will use the data to lobby both sides of politics in the lead up to the 2014 State Election and hopefully, more money to fix Western NSW roads will filter to our region next year,” he said.