The Princes Highway on the NSW South Coast will receive an upgrade worth almost a billion dollars — one of the biggest election commitments announced so far — if the NSW Liberal party wins this month's state election.
The money will be spent on duplicating a 20-kilometre section of road between Jervis Bay and Sussex Inlet, south of Nowra on the South Coast.
Plans for a bypass at Milton and Ulladulla and upgrades further south are also included in the funding.
It would be part of an eventual $15 billion investment in the road over the next 20 years.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian was on the South Coast today to make the announcement and said the work would reduce the road toll.
"The work we have done already on the Princes Highway has seen a reduction in deaths," Ms Berejiklian said.
"We know the more we build, and the faster we build, the more lives we'll save. That's worth every cent."
A road of horrors
During the past decade, there were 1,494 crashes on the highway between Jervis Bay Road and the Victorian border, which resulted in 30 deaths and 350 serious injuries.
Between December 2017 and June 2018, eight people lost their lives on the highway south of Nowra.
This included a fatal smash near Bendalong in which five people died, including actress Jessica Falkholt, after a four-wheel drive swerved to the wrong side of the road.
NSW Minister for Transport Andrew Constance said it was one of the most dangerous highways in Australia.
"We've seen families ripped apart and communities torn apart by horrendous accidents," Mr Constance said.
"Enough is enough."
Upgrades will go ahead regardless of Federal Government contributions
The announcement comes as the $15 billion, 23-year upgrade of the Pacific Highway in the north of the state nears completion.
The road was funded by an 80/20 split with the Federal Government; however, no such commitment has been made for its southern counterpart.
Despite this, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said they would fund the upgrades if re-elected.
"Of course, if other levels of government want to help we would welcome that," she said.
"But we're not going to sit on our hands and wait.
"We're a government that stands on our own."
