Budget brings Dixons Long Point crossing a step closer, says Gee

Member for Calare Andrew Gee said the Roads of Strategic Importance funding, outlined in the budget, could offer an opportunity to finalise a project that has been outstanding for a hundred years.

In December 2016 Mr Gee and then Infrastructure and transport minister Darren Chester viewed the site as part of a tour of central west infrastructure.

During the visit Mr Chester said the road was “referred to as the missing link between two regional centres that play a fundamental role in the state’s wine and tourism industries.”

Following Tuesday’s Budget Mr Gee reinforced the need for funding for the project.

“A new crossing for the Macquarie River has been something people have been trying to achieve literally for a hundred years,” he said.

Now there was an infrastructure funding pool available, and consultants reports finalised, Mr Gee said he would like to see all the parties brought together to see the project completed, including Mid West, Cabonne and Orange councils and the NSW Government.

More than $2 billion of the $3.5 billion announced for the Roads of Strategic Importance has already been allocated to projects around the country. 

In 2016 the Federal and NSW state governments committed $200,000 to investigate the connection between Orange and Mudgee with studies and planning being finalised by Cabonne Council earlier this year. 

Currently, the crossing over the Macquarie River is only possible with a four-wheel drive and much of the route is dirt. An upgraded road and crossing would cut the route to Mudgee by 80 kilometres.

Tuesday nights budget also delivered a $95 million investment in the Murray Darling Medical School, tax cuts for those who earn up to $90,000 and the combined parental income test will rise to $160,000 a year.