With State and Federal elections on the horizon, cash is being splashed around the Hunter to improve the region's roads while hopefully wooing voters.
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Anthony Albanese, the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development, on Wednesday promised a multi-million dollar road bypass for Singleton if Labor wins the Federal Election.
When The Mercury received the heads up that an announcement about a New England Highway infrastructure project was coming, we had our fingers crossed it would be a solution to our city's congestion problems. It was not to be.
Here in Maitland our city's roads are log-jammed, and we have a one-way flyover in the middle of town that does as one expects - half the job.
Today, in the lead-up to the elections, Mercury staff decided to "road test" our congestion hot-spots.
It comes eleven years after we carried a two-page feature on Maitland's traffic woes in the Mercury - dated Friday, May 16, 2008.
Back then talk of an "F3 link" - now the Hunter Expressway - was supposed to be the answer to the New England Highway gridlock.
Mayor at the time Peter Blackmore said: "Right now our traffic is pretty bad. But when you look at our projected growth figures, it's going to be a lot worse."
So this week we sent reporters in to the CBD from all the major hotpsots - along the New England Highway from Ashtonfield, along Cessnock Road from Gillieston Heights, through Belmore Road at Lorn, in from the west starting at The Bradford Hotel, and finally from Thornton along Raymond Terrace Road.
The results were startling.
How's this: Gillieston Heights to High Street took six minutes one day and 32 minutes the next.
The traffic from Maitland Pool to High street was invariably a disaster - it took our photographer 20 minutes to make the trip; another staff member took 30 minutes from Tenambit to High Street; while another reporter took nine and a half minutes to travel the length of Church Street.
With elections looming the Maitland message to political parties is that the fastest growing inland city deserves its slice of the pie. Our roads are a congested mess and getting worse.
