Ballina Electorate Media Releases
More Tragic Fatalities Highlight Urgency Of Pacific Highway Upgrade (20/10/2008)
“Three tragic fatalities in one day on the Pacific Highway highlight the urgency of the upgrade work to happen now,” Member for Ballina, Don Page said.
“One of the fatalities was a head on collision at St Helena. History shows that head on collisions are eliminated on divided carriageways.
“Head on collisions highlight the need to put dual carriageway in place as quickly as possible.
“This means giving the Pacific Highway a very high priority for infrastructure funding,” Mr Page said.
“As recently as last week I said how disappointing it was to see that the State Labor Government put the Pacific Highway upgrade a long way down its list of priorities in its submission to the Federal Government for infrastructure funding.
“All their top priorities were in Sydney.
“The stretch between Tintenbar and Ewingsdale, where two of the fatalities on Friday occurred, is notorious as one of the most dangerous sections of the Pacific Highway.
“Yet there is currently no funding allocated for construction work to commence. Only planning money is allocated for this section,” Mr Page said.
