The federal Labor government’s decision to backflip on a promise to improve the safety of the Bruxner Highway is very disappointing. Ultimately, this is a decision which will cost lives. Hundreds of residents have told me how unsafe they feel during the drive from the Plateau to Lismore. 

In September 2022, the federal government announced it would fund $6.81 million, and the NSW Government $1.7 million, for improved road safety from Sneaths Road in Wollongbar to Kadina Street in Goonellabah. But recently, the Albanese Labor government announced 50 projects across the country would lose funding for infrastructure upgrades, including promised funding for road safety upgrades on the Bruxner Highway.

The federal Labor government’s decision to backflip on a promise to improve the safety of the Bruxner Highway is very disappointing. Ultimately, this is a decision which will cost lives.

Hundreds of residents have told me how unsafe they feel during the drive from the Plateau to Lismore, particularly at the Sneaths Road intersection in Wollongbar, as well as intersections at Lindendale Road and Alphadale Road. There have been multiple crashes along this stretch of road, and the federal government has acknowledged that the Bruxner Highway has a fatal and serious injury crash rate that is more than eight times higher than similar roads across the state.

Last year, state and federal governments told residents that they understood how unsafe the Bruxner Highway had become, and promised to fund important upgrades that would make the Highway safer. Their reversal of this promise is deeply disappointing, and I know the communities of Wollongbar, Lindendale and McLeans Ridges will not be pleased.

The NSW Department of Transport stated in a media release last year that “A key section of the highway is between Sneaths Road, Wollongbar, and Kadina Street, Goonellabah, which has a fatal and serious injury crash rate that is more than eight times higher than similar roads across the State and we must bring this down. We will investigate a range of options including the construction of a section of dual carriageway on a new alignment between the two centres...During the planning process we will look at how the highway connects with other sections of the road network and how construction might be staged.”

A number of crashes have occurred at intersections along this path of road in recent years. I conducted a survey of Wollongbar residents in 2018, which revealed that a majority of respondents felt “unsafe” or “very unsafe” at the Sneaths Road intersection.

The Greens are calling on the federal government to honour their commitment and ensure the upgrades to the Bruxner Highway are delivered.

Click here to share our calls on Facebook.