Mr Donato said on Monday Mr Daley needed to let people know if he had a different opinion to former Labor leader Luke Foley.

“In March this year the former opposition leader Luke Foley said an expressway will never be built by any NSW government as it wasn’t economical and instead focus should be on upgrading the existing roads,” he said.

Mr Donato said the road should be built.

“With the announcement of the inland rail hub at Parkes, a Blue Mountains Expressway is more essential than ever to be the spoke from that hub to drive growth,” he said.

“According to CENTROC [Central NSW Region of Councils], freight movements over this route are expected to soar,” he said.

“An expressway is a fundamental piece of infrastructure to provide safe and swift roadway linkage between the Central West and the Sydney basin.”