The long-proposed Midland Highway bypass of Mangalore and Bagdad is shovel ready and should proceed, says the Southern Midlands Mayor Alex Green.
He believes it will activate development opportunities in that corridor.
“The project has been on the cards for quite a few years,” he said. “Then Minister (for State Growth) Rene Hidding stated quite clearly to us that it was a medium term proposition. Now, I believe that medium term has been reached. That was eight years ago. ”
Green said there were a number of issues that the proposed bypass addresses.
“Those issues haven’t gone away. And in many ways those issues have increased. The volume of traffic on the section of the highway has increased to a level which I don’t think the state government or federal government anticipated.”
A significant proportion of local traffic used that section of the highway, he said, making it a very busy area for locals trying to get to shops, schools, and to work.
“It’s a classic shovel ready project,” Mayor Green said.
“The state government undertook land acquisitions for the corridor for this highway. They’ve also undertaken all the relevant studies, all the planning has been undertaken. There were even private enterprises who’d gained approval for quarries predicated on the understanding of this highway was going to proceed.”
He said as far as locals were concerned, the project would both activate the area and generate jobs. “And importantly, it also provides a whole range of development opportunities through the Bagdad corridor from Dysart all the way through to Pontville.”
Decision-makers needed to be reminded of the project, he said, and of the undertakings provided to the community many years ago.
Federal Labor MP for Lyons, Brian Mitchell, supports the call to action on the bypass.
“The federal government has been saying they want shovel ready projects to keep the economy stimulated,” he said. “It’ll entirely free up to this road…it will once again be a residential road. You got some terrific communities along here. Mangalore, Dysart, Baghdad, people wanting to tree change along here, but they have to mingle with trucks doing 80 kilometres an hour. As you can hear, it’s very noisy, and it just is not a great mix.”
He argued that the bypass will keep trucks on the highway proper, speeding up north-south traffic on the Midland Highway and improve amenity for local residents.
“It’ll free up reserves,” he said. “Actual opportunities for more subdivisions, and possibly commercial subdivisions as well. So it’ll really enliven this part of the Southern Midlands (Municipality) and generate lots of jobs and economic activity. It’s a win win.”
Funding
He called for the federal government to invest in the bypass, which was last costed in 2009 when Kevin Rudd was the Australian Prime Minister.
“Of course I’m a Labour MP in (the time of) a Liberal-National government, but I’ll be lobbying the Deputy Prime Minister, who’s the Infrastructure Minister, and I’ll be writing to him and lobbying him personally when I go to Canberra next week. My understanding is all the state approvals are in place. As Alex says, all the acquisitions have been done. All the permits are in place. Yeah, once we’ve got the budget, this can go ahead tomorrow. They could they can start work on this straightaway.”
Mayor Green view as ‘a perfect corollary to the Bridgewater Bridge, which has been funded now. “So that’s got a certain future and a pathway. Once that’s completed, there’s one significant bottleneck left in southern Tasmania on the national highway. And it’s this section of road, and solution is there.”
Mitchell argued that another plus is that the bypass roadworks, for what might be a lengthy construction period, would not affect current traffic at all on the Midland Highway.
“You build it and then open up, it’s a perfect solution,” Mitchell said.
“It ticks all the boxes: economic stimulus, jobs, and long term economic growth. It opens up, in the south, great opportunities for residential subdivision in an area that’s crying out for new home sites for young homeowners. It really is a win win situation.”
The proposed route lies east of the existing Midland Highway.
An August 2012 paper on the Department of State Growth website describes the project as follows:
The strategic merit of a Bagdad Bypass was confirmed as part of National Building I, under which the Tasmanian Government received funding to undertake preliminary planning and design.
The Bypass will see construction of approximately 17km of high-standard road, bypassing the Mangalore, Bagdad and Dysart areas.
It will comprise two northbound lanes and a single southbound lane, with overtaking lanes provided where necessary in the southbound direction. The design ensures that the single southbound lane sections can be upgraded to dual carriageway in the future.
Key benefits of the Bypass include:
• Increase LOS* to A, thereby improving efficiency by reducing travel times for both freight and passenger vehicles between the Southern and Northern regions of the State;
• Support the other projects in the Southern Tasmania National Transport Investment Program 2007-15, including the Brighton Bypass and Transport Hub, to deliver their full potential in terms of efficiency and capacity improvements;
• Reduce road trauma and maintenance costs, with an expected reduction of 90% in fatal crashes and 75% in injury crashes;
• Improve amenity in the townships to be bypassed, and provide opportunities for commercial and residential development.
*Level of Service
