The New England Highway needs more upgrades to cope with a projected population boom west of the city, Independent candidate for Maitland Philip Penfold says.
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Cr Penfold, a Maitland City councillor, said the government needed to establish dual lanes on the highway between Racecourse Road and Kyle Street.
He told the Mercury that recent work to widen the highway between Harvey and Racecourse roads at Rutherford was a good start to infrastructure upgrades.
But Cr Penfold said the government needed to do more to ensure infrastructure could cater for a predicted population of 120,000 in the Maitland area by 2030, given that many new residents would live in the Aberglasslyn and Lochinvar areas.
Council has earmarked Lochinvar, Anambah and Aberglasslyn as key areas for residential growth in the coming years.
“Work needs to continue in the next couple of years, but the next most important section is out towards Kyle Street,” Cr Penfold said.
“I think Maitland people are a bit sick of development coming first, then RMS [Roads and Maritime Services] gets around to the infrastructure.
“The government, to its credit, has made a good start but it’s not really enough to cope with the major growth in population.”
Cr Penfold said the issue would be a key priority if he became the Maitland MP next March.
“I’ll be knocking on the minister’s door weekly if I need to,” he said.
