The arterial road to the New Maitland Hospital is already a bottleneck, and the $470 million medical facility hasn't even opened yet.
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This week, Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison put pressure on the state government to reclassify Metford Road as a state road after receiving numerous complaints about traffic conditions and congestion.
She said her office had received multiple phone calls, emails, videos and social media messages from frustrated motorists highlighting heavy traffic, delays and dangerous conditions on roads associated with the ongoing works at Metford.
"It is ridiculous that a major arterial route between two state roads, which will form the main thoroughfare for staff, patients, visitors and others attending the new Maitland Hospital, remains in the hands of local government," Ms Aitchison said.
On Wednesday, she delivered a notice of motion in parliament calling on the NSW Government to reconsider Maitland City Council's request to have Metford Road reclassified.
Maitland City Council nominated Metford Road under the NSW Government's Road Classification and Transfer project, but was advised by Transport for NSW that the project was not selected to progress to the priority round.
It is a decision Ms Aitchison wants revisited as a matter of priority.
And it would seem all may not be lost for Maitland motorists as there will be another round of submissions in which council can apply for the reclassification again in the first half of 2021.
But a Transport for NSW spokesperson said "no decision has yet been made on the reclassification of any roads under the NSW Government's commitment to transfer up to 15,000km of council-owned roads to state ownership".
"The Independent Expert Panel established to oversee recommendations is yet to deliver its interim report and priority recommendations to Government based on submissions received in the priority round," the spokesperson said.
"Decisions regarding which roads proceeded to the priority round were made by the Independent Panel.
"Since concerns were first raised by members of the public last week, Transport for NSW has been working closely with Council to develop a new traffic management strategy to improve traffic flow and road safety."
