Looking south on Terry Street towards the intersection of Tripoli Way. A new signalised intersection will provide access to the town centre and turning lanes to the Tripoli Way Extension. (Artist impression. Preliminary images: subject to change.) Image: Shellharbour City Council.
Shellharbour City Council is expected to begin early works on Albion Park’s long-awaited Tripoli Way Extension Project in 2025, despite a motion to review the project.
An update on the project was provided to council at its meeting on Tuesday (26 November), after which Cr Rob Petreski proposed a motion to coordinate a briefing with Transport for NSW aimed to address community feedback and realignment options.
However, the motion wasn’t supported due to concerns the $60 million project, which aims to alleviate congestion on the Illawarra Highway, would experience potential delays of up to two years and increased costs, with $25.2 million in State Government grants at risk.
Construction of Tripoli Way will be carried out in two stages, with preliminary work for electrical utility relocations to begin in early 2025, with main works following from June.
Shellharbour City Mayor Chris Homer said he was excited for the project to break ground after being on the council’s agenda since 1961.
“The Tripoli Way Extension is a vital project for our growing community, enhancing the efficiency and safety of our roads,” Cr Homer said.
The project will establish an uninterrupted travel route connecting Terry Street in the east to Broughton Avenue in the west, effectively bypassing the town centre.
Design consultant, Indesco, is 80 per cent complete with the detailed design for the project and is awaiting review from Transport for NSW.
During his motion, Cr Petrovski said community members had put forward pragmatic suggestions for its entry and exit points, including taking away a proposed T-intersection towards the east of Tripoli Way, with fears that council’s current proposal would instead spend “potentially $60 million and have a bottleneck moved down the road”.
“Their proposal, I think, is quite feasible,” he said.
“If we have a slip road rather than a T-intersection, it would obviously allow traffic to flow quite freely and without the need to stop or signalling.”
He said with the project having three stages, stage three was by far the costliest, but simple amendments to the current proposal could negate the need for a stage three.
“To rush it now and to not take on board some of that feedback, I think may be a decision we may live to regret in the future,” he said.
He said his proposal was for all the decision-makers to be in the one room to determine who was responsible for what.
Cr Lou Stefanovski, who initially supported the motion, asked if the motion would slow the project down and increase costs, to which CEO Mike Archer replied it could add two years or longer and increase costs.
“The risk we really run is we’ve got grant funding with milestones set to us by the State Government … that they expect us to meet to deliver this project,” Mr Archer said.
“We have $25.2 million of that $60 million tied up in State Government grants.”
Cr Stefanovski withdrew his support of the motion, leaving it with no other supporters.
Cr Kellie Marsh said while she saw the merit in the community’s petition, she wanted to provide them with some comfort that an upcoming briefing session had already been set.
“There’s a meeting set down already with Transport for NSW in February, which is a presentation to update councillors on the major works programs, including Tripoli Way and Albion Park town centre and Tongarra Road upgrades,” she said.
“The Tripoli Way update will focus on further conversation about stage three, and Transport for NSW have agreed to traffic model some options in relation to the southern link access solution, which I think the community will be quite pleased about.”
She said when available, those options would be out for public exhibition.
“We’re just about at the finish line. To go back from here, we would be going back years,” she said.
“I will be impacted by this myself. I live extremely close to the Broughton Avenue roundabout, but this is about the greater good, and I just ask the community to please come along for the ride with this.”
Cr Mitch Ellis became emotional, saying there had been many missed opportunities to build the bypass over the years but the current stage one and two shouldn’t be delayed or it would only lead to increased costs.
“With the population only continuing to grow at a rapid rate, these traffic issues will only become exponentially worse,” Cr Ellis said.
“We must deliver this and deliver it now.”
Cr Homer said while it promised great benefits for many, council would continue to work closely with those most impacted to keep disruptions to a minimum.
“We know that change isn’t always easy, and some of our residents have concerns about what’s ahead,” he said.
“But the Tripoli Way Project is about improving a key transport link in the city, and the early works signify the beginning of a broader vision for a more connected and sustainable future for our community.”
The determination of the environmental impact statement (EIS) was made in September, which considered many factors such as traffic, noise and flooding, as well as proposing measures to minimise and manage them.
Further approvals involving Transport for NSW, Aboriginal Heritage, fisheries and various utility authorities for water, power and telecommunications are underway.
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