Greens NSW Senate candidate Lee Rhiannon and Greens candidate for Macquarie Carmel McCallum have called for unspent funds to be reallocated away from Central Western highway road upgrades and towards local public rail transport.

“Labor and the Coalition have been a policy free zone when it comes to transport in the Blue Mountains, despite pleas from locals to stem the rising tide of trucks thundering through Blue Mountains’ villages,” said Ms Rhiannon.

“There are currently $220 million in unspent funds for the new alignment of the Great Western Highway through Hartley Valley and south of the River Lett Hill between Lithgow and Mount Victoria.

“The Greens want these funds diverted towards local rail infrastructure to shift freight off Blue Mountains roads and give locals faster and more frequent rail services.

“Greens MPs in NSW and Federal parliaments will ask questions in budget estimates to uncover where this unspent money is and to push for this money to be diverted to rail projects that the local community wants.

“The Blue Mountains is an iconic World Heritage Area, not an industrial highway. The Greens remain opposed to any move to turn Bells Line of Road into a ‘super highway’,” said Ms Rhiannon.

Ms McCallum said locals in the Blue Mountains are “sick of seeing freight trucks rolling down the Great Western Highway, thundering past our schools and splitting our villages in half”.

“The precious environment of the Blue Mountains is a completely inappropriate environment for road freight,” she said.

The Greens support calls by the Blackheath Highway Action Group to transfer $220 million in unspent road upgrade funds to complete the Elong Elong Merrygoen triangle rail junction and the main west rail line long-term investment report, among other rail projects.

http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/news/local/news/general/greens-push-to-get-trucks-off-highway/1916638.aspx

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