As the state continues to open up and people grow in confidence as we venture into this new, living-with-COVID world, connectivity and the ease in which we can travel from our region, here in Orange, to large centres like Sydney and Canberra will be at the forefront of people's minds.
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Where are we going? And how quickly can we get there?
Sadly, the answer to the latter is often 'not nearly quick enough'.
Travelling over the Great Divide will always pose a challenge, and certainly doubling the lanes in either direction is one of those 'works in progress' for the state government.
You could liken it to painting the harbour bridge. By the time the current works have been completed, it'll be time to head back to the start and add another lane ... or two.
Close to our end of the mountains, the latest upgrade looks set to deliver a tunnel under Blackheath and an improved carriage-way from Katoomba to as far as Hartley.
That's all good and well - and desperately needed - but let's think bigger.
There's little to no reason the road linking the Blue Mountains to Lithgow, Bathurst, Orange and as far as Dubbo couldn't replicate what has been done along the Pacific Highway.
Two lanes in either direction, at least, at a speed of 100 kilometres-per-hour, at least.
This region is bustling already with people either looking to get out of metro Sydney for a break or permanently shifting base west of the mountains to avoid the rat race.
And these people are willing to do that despite the Great Western Highway, and indeed the Mitchell Highway west of Bathurst, being nothing more than a rural road.
Imagine the sort of boom the Central West would enjoy if there was a road capable of being branded a legitimate highway?
We've long been the forgotten region in NSW - it's not just Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong - but a bumper upgrade to the only road in and out of Sydney would do wonders for business in the region, as well as its people, who continue to have strong links to the city. Come on Dom, go for a drive and see for yourself.
John White
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