WED 26 mar 2014
PROUDLY INDEPENDENT
Printed on 100% recycled paper
David Strassman
Trades & Services Need help at your place this weekend? p.31-35
Start your engines
NSW Roads Minister dedicates Hunter Expressway to the community Master ventriloquist back in the Hunter p.17
Smoking ban for University p.8
NRL 2014 The inspiration behind Tyrone Roberts
p.40
Melissah Comber
T
hree years of construction, 10,000 workers and $1.7 billion later, the Hunter Expressway is finally open. The 40-kilometre-long freeway opened to traffic on Saturday, March 22 with a ribboncutting conducted by Member for Maitland, Robyn Parker to mark the community day. The official dedication was held the day before, which saw Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss and NSW Minister for Roads and Ports Duncan Gay joined by state and federal members including Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr, Member for Hunter Joel Fitzgibbon and Member for Upper Hunter George Souris, as well as local mayors and councillors. Mr Truss said that the road, which extends from the M1 Motorway at Wallsend to the New England Highway at Branxton, was probably the largest single construction project in regional Australia. “Everyone knew that this was a project that would transform the Hunter and particularly the movement of freight through this region,” Mr Truss said. “Everyone knew that it had enormous social benefits that would flow through to the local community – we all knew that this was worth doing.” Mr Gay said that it would be a road for the community. “It is an absolutely cracking road,”
Member for Maitland Robyn Parker cuts the ribbon to open the Hunter Expressway on Saturday Mr Gay said. “It’s not a politician’s road, it’s not the builders, it’s not the Council’s road, it will be a community road.” The Expressway is expected to cut 28 minutes off the journey from Branxton to Newcastle, as well as remove large volumes of traffic from
Maitland’s roads, which Ms Parker said would be fantastic for the people of Maitland. “This is going to make such a difference to hundreds of thousands of people’s work days and their travels to and from Maitland, taking so much traffic off our roads, which will really make a big difference.”
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