Breaking News
Hills Libs rubbish ring road
Jenny Galbraith
06Feb07
THE Eastern Ring Road is a waste of money and will not solve the traffic problems in Castle Hill, according to two Hills MPs.
State Liberal MP for The Hills Michael Richardson and Federal Liberal MP for Mitchell Alan Cadman said the money could be better used on Showground Rd.
Mr Richardson said Baulkham Hills Shire Council should spend the $25 million allocated to the ring road on upgrading Showground Rd.
``That's where the real bottleneck is - not Old Northern Rd through the town centre,'' he said.
The Ring Road will incorporate new traffic lights at the Old Northern Rd and Cecil Ave intersection and a four-lane wide road on existing Terminus St.
``I've represented Castle Hill for 14 years - and in that time I have not had one person writing, phoning or emailing me in favour of the Eastern Ring Road. But I've had literally hundreds of people complaining about Showground Rd,'' Mr Richardson said.
Mr Cadman said the new road would impact businesses in the area.
``I'm very concerned about the loss of 100 parking spaces in Terminus St and the Terminus St car park. That will impact significantly on local businesses and their customers,'' he said.
Mr Richardson said that any plan to improve traffic flow in the Castle Hill CBD had to include synchronising the six sets of traffic lights on the Western Ring Road.
Baulkham Hills Mayor Tony Hay said the ring road was needed to improve the traffic flow around the CBD.
``There's been an absolute need for that, as long as Showground Rd has needed an upgrade,'' he said.
``As a council, we have lobbied heavily for the Showground Rd upgrade and will continue to do so.''
