THE residents of Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest and surrounding townships are determined to continue the fight for the immediate construction of an overpass at the junction of the Pacific Highway and Myall Way, despite the decision by the Roads Minister, Joe Tripodi, not to construct one before the year 2016.
"The decision by the Minister is based on the results of the review and report promised by the previous Minister for Roads, Michael Costa, in May 2005, which has finally been completed by an independent consultant for the RTA," explained Chairperson for the Overpass Task Force, Patricia Michell.
Ms Michell said there are concerns about the scope of the report.
"When Mr Costa instructed the RTA to do the review, the members of the Task Force present at that meeting raised concerns about the scope of works and which construction elements would be included in the review.
"Mr Costa said at that time we would have the opportunity to comment once the figures were available.
"We were not given this opportunity and only heard of the findings via media reports on the Minister's decision," she said.
"The value of the works put forward recently by the Minister is clearly for a much larger component of works than just the overpass.
"Preliminary review of the report indicates that accident statistics used in the assessment do not take into account accidents which have occurred at or near the junction since February 2005," continued Ms Michell.
A further public meeting will be held in Tea Gardens on January 13, 2006 at 10am in the Tea Gardens Baptist Church. "Invitations have been issued to local politicians, and at this point both John Turner, our local State Member, and Bob Baldwin, our Federal Member have confirmed their attendance," concluded Ms Michell.
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