Member for Orange Phil Donato MP has responded with strong criticism of Transport for NSW following the agency’s announced indefinite closure of the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass. The independent MP has called on the NSW Government for urgent action to address the fragility of the transport corridor linking Sydney to Western NSW.
The closure is already disrupting freight movements, businesses and regional communities that rely on the highway as the primary east–west connection to the state’s capital.
The MP has warned that the problem will only worsen as freight volumes grow with projects such as the Inland Rail and the expansion of the Parkes freight hub.
“If we don’t start planning long-term solutions now, this corridor will become one of the biggest freight bottlenecks in Australia,” Mr Donato said.
“For decades we’ve seen massive infrastructure investment in Sydney — projects like WestConnex and NorthConnex — while regional transport corridors are left struggling with ageing infrastructure.”
“Regional communities contribute enormously to the state’s economy, particularly through agriculture and mining, yet we are still relying on a single vulnerable corridor to move goods and people between Western NSW and Sydney,” said Mr Donato.