Chamber among first to be advised

The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce was among the first to be advised of the decision to abandon the Level Crossing Replacement Project at South Woy Woy.

"The Chamber has been advised that the Roads and Maritime Services has pulled any further funding for the rail underpass from its budget," said Chamber president Mr Matthew Wales.

However, the reason given by RMS was "the failure to come to agreement with State Rail over the design and construction of the road culvert under the Main Northern Rail Line", he said

"The cost had blown out to $115 million and we understand that the risk factors around the construction were insurmountable," he said.

"Sadly this project was doomed to failure from the day it was announced by the former State Member for Gosford, Mr Chris Holstein, back in 2011 at which time the Chamber said it was under-funded and unfeasible.

"We now have a $6 million pedestrian underpass at the Rawson Rd rail crossing that no-one uses and $10 million worth of pre-works wasted at the base of Bulls Hill.

"It's simply unbelievable that the former State Member for Gosford Chris Holstein could have so grossly undervalued the works and committed funds without any feasibility study or adequate design to demonstrate that the project was viable.

"After five years of wasted money and effort including $3 million in design costs, we still have a rail crossing at Rawson Rd, a substandard underpass at Shoalhaven Dr and a traffic bottle neck at Ocean Beach Rd and Rawson Rd roundabout.

"The only option now available to solve the Rawson Rd rail crossing problem is a rail overpass which could cost up to $200 million.

"Clearly this will never happen in the foreseeable future.

"The Chamber is bitterly disappointed at the failure of this project which once again has left the Peninsula in the lurch at a time when our local roads are in desperate need of funds for kerb and gutter, repairs and upgrading.

"With over 85 per cent of our roads not kerbed, undrained and without footpaths, the money wasted on the underpass project could have been better spent on more urgent roadworks that would have delivered better traffic management and safety outcomes," he said.

Central Coast Council administrator Mr Ian Reynolds said that by October 24 the Council had not received any formal confirmation from the Minister or the Roads and Maritime Service about the decision to abandon the Rawson Rd Level Crossing Replacement Project.

"We are aware the Minister for Roads made a statement in Parliament but we haven't received any official notification from the RMS unless the letter has come in and I haven't seen it," Mr Reynolds said.

"We want to see the correspondence from the Minister before we comment on the status of the project or our options," he said.

However, Mr Reynolds would not speculate about what solutions would be available to the Council and NSW Government to fix the safety and congestion issues caused by the level crossing.

"I can't be hypothetical and I don't have the history because a lot of it happened before my time," he said.

"I would want to see the correspondence before I make any commitments.

"Broadly speaking with the merged council, we are working on our detailed plans for the future of infrastructure on all of the Central Coast.

"Roads and drainage are the big problems on the Peninsula and in other areas but we want to get a handle on the totality of all our issues and then determine what the best solutions will be for the whole Central Coast.

"Generally speaking, our view as an amalgamated council is we are happy to work with State and Federal Governments to resolve those issues," he said.

Media release, 19 Oct 2016

Matthew Wales, Peninsula Chamber of Commerce

Interview, 24 Oct 2016

Ian Reynolds, Central Coast Council

Media statement, 27 Oct 2016

Ian Reynolds, Central Coast Council

Reporter: Jackie Pearson