2 days Ago By Chloe Coleman
A westbound flyover is guaranteed for Maitland after Labor matched the Liberals' promise to build a $100 million overpass at the Maitland Station roundabout. Login or signup to continue reading Infrastructure Minister Catherine King joined Paterson MP Meryl Swanson at Maitland Park on Monday morning to announce funding for the Maitland Station intersection, and intersections at The Bucketts Way and Medowie Road. The government has promised $100 million to deliver a westbound overpass on the New England Highway at Maitland Station if re-elected in May.
It also promised $12 million to design upgrades for The Bucketts Way and Medowie Road intersections on the M1 Pacific Highway at Port Stephens. Liberal candidate for Paterson Laurence Antcliff announced in March a Coalition government would fund the overpass if elected. Ms King said the Liberal government did "half a job" when constructing the eastbound overpass, but Labor would fix it.
"We're putting in $112 million to fix this interchange, to fix this roundabout to bring another overpass for westbound so that traffic is not congested here as you can see behind me at peak hour and pretty much during most of the day," she said. "That $100 million for this overpass is also a part of a package that we're putting in here to also do some further improvements on the M1 to look at two other intersections where we need to do the planning work now to try and actually unlock those intersections." Ms King said the government worked with the NSW government to get the $100 million figure, and she was confident the funding would be enough to deliver the overpass.
Ms King saw first-hand the easy flow of traffic on the existing overpass in contrast with the heavy congestion at the roundabout heading west. She expects work would begin by the end of year or early 2026, following detailed planning. Ms Swanson said the overpass would support Maitland's rapidly growing population.
"We know that seven to eight people every day want to call Paterson, and particularly Maitland, their home," she said. "It's such an honour to have people want to come live here, but you do need the infrastructure and services to support people when they're moving to an area, and that's what an Albanese Labor government is doing." The eastbound overpass at the Maitland Station intersection opened in 2016 and at the time residents said it cut 15 minutes off their morning commute.
Since then, the Maitland community has called for a westbound overpass to ease the heavy congestion on the roundabout, which has also created a dangerous rat run through Maitland Park. Chloe Coleman is a journalist covering news in the Lower Hunter. Chloe Coleman is a journalist covering news in the Lower Hunter.
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