Lake Macquarie Road Infrastructure

In Lake Macquarie we are blessed with a unique natural environment. Our environment supports swimming, birdwatching, boating and hiking. With a beautiful environment, great strategic location, available land and an overall enviable lifestyle, it is no wonder that there is significant population growth. Unfortunately I cannot always be so effusive about our built environment. The infrastructure needed to support our growing community is just not there. I could point to various examples, one of those being the lack of commuter car parking at Morisset and Fassifern train stations. The parking there is not adequate to cope with the current number of people, let alone any growth. Today, however, I focus on our roads.

According to 2021 census data, 60 per cent of employed people aged 15 and over in the Lake Macquarie local government area travelled to work by car. That is higher than both the New South Wales and Australian averages. Higher dependence on car use in Lake Macquarie means a number of things from a strategic perspective. It shows that current public transport is not catering to people's transport needs, and it requires that the roads are reliable and efficient. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Key roads have not been upgraded to support the increasing numbers of residents and visitors. That can result in bottlenecks and delays, which are seen daily at locations like Speers Point roundabout.

For those not familiar, Speers Point roundabout is at the intersection of four roads. Three of those roads—Five Islands Road, TC Frith Avenue and The Esplanade—are major commuter thoroughfares. The roundabout is located at the northern end of my electorate, and commuters travelling towards Newcastle from the Westlakes area have little choice but to drive through it. Those commuters are hit the hardest, whether travelling by car or bus. At peak periods, traffic can back up for many kilometres along Five Islands Road, all the way to Fennell Bay. People are facing delays getting to work, school and appointments daily, and they are fed up.

Along with the community, I have been calling for a solution to this pain point for around seven years. Now, finally, we seem to be getting somewhere. Transport for NSW has committed $11 million to upgrade the intersection. The department released a report in October responding to key matters raised by the community on potential solutions. Concept design is currently being developed and will be displayed for community feedback in due course. That all sounds good, right? But progress feels slow and we are yet to see any movement on the ground. But there is another problem: The proposed solution does not address predicted population growth.

Around 12,000 residents and 6,000 jobs are expected to come to north-west Lake Macquarie alone over the next 20 years, not to mention that we can expect growth linked to the Government's Transport Oriented Development precincts, four of which are in my electorate. Three of those precincts—Morisset, Booragul and Teralba—are south of the roundabout. The fourth precinct, Cockle Creek, is north of the roundabout on TC Frith Avenue. Without careful planning to accommodate more housing, people and jobs in the area, there will continue to be traffic management and safety issues at Speers Point roundabout.

While valuable, the current upgrades are only a short-term fix. We obviously need a longer term solution. To ensure that Lake Macquarie is ready to support more people and jobs, the Government must invest in efficient and reliable road infrastructure now. The upgrades should be considered more broadly as part of planning to ensure that people's movements throughout the transport network, and from one mode of transport to another, are as efficient, enjoyable and frictionless as possible.

I call on the Government to tackle the issue head-on in its Hunter Strategic Regional Integrated Transport Plan. The plan takes a 20-year view of the evolving transportation needs in the region. It must clearly articulate the initiatives needed to cater to expected population growth in Lake Macquarie. More importantly, the Government must ensure the initiatives do not sit on the page and gather dust. They must be funded in a timely manner so that those living in Lake Macquarie and the Hunter do not bear the burden of poor planning in the future. We cannot kick the can further down the road. Speers Point roundabout is just one example in Lake Macquarie of how not planning for population change can put pressure on our roads. Just look at Mandalong Road and Dora Creek down the other end of my electorate in the greater Morisset area. The people of Lake Macquarie, who live there now and will live there soon, deserve a reliable transport network that enables access to work and opportunity.