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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Michael Parris

Labor promises more money for Speers Point roundabout fix

Labor has promised to spend an extra $6 million upgrading the "notorious" Speers Point roundabout if it wins government.

Lake Macquarie candidate Stephen Ryan said the increased funding would "improve the current proposed upgrade that is woefully inadequate" and bring forward the start date for the project.

The roundabout on the corner of The Esplanade and Five Islands Road has been a choke point during busy traffic periods.

Lake Macquarie independent MP Greg Piper raised the "major bottleneck" in state Parliament in March last year, calling on the government to invest in upgrading the intersection.

The government subsequently budgeted $5 million for what the Newcastle Herald understands is an interim solution until the roundabout is redesigned.

Transport for NSW has proposed metered traffic lights, which monitor and control the flow of traffic into an intersection, but has not produced plans for the work.

Mr Ryan said metered lighting was "inadequate for such a busy intersection" and the extra $6 million would pay for a new design which could include ripping up the roundabout and replacing it with traffic lights.

"Traffic congestion is the number one issue in Lake Macquarie, and for too long we have missed out on major road upgrades," he said.

"This additional $6 million more than doubles the budget for this project, which will ... also allow us to bring the project forward from its current start date in 2025."

Mr Piper said he "absolutely welcomes" any funding commitments to improve the intersection and would "like to see the work done yesterday".

In other campaign news, Port Stephens MP Kate Washington announced on Wednesday that Labor would invest $100,000 in local youth mental health service Jupiter.

One Nation state leader Mark Latham said in Cessnock on Wednesday that his party's policy platform included halting the transition to renewable energy, establishing a "special Hunter electricity rebate" of $300 a year for households and $500 for businesses, and securing the "$95 million needed to build the Cessnock bypass and ring road".

Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison announced a Labor government would provide a total of $113,000 to eight organisations operating in the electorate, including three domestic violence support services, Friends of Palliative Care, Maitland Family Support, Hume Community Housing and Maitland Regional Community Support.

The funding commitment included $35,000 to Maitland Business Chamber and Maitland Liquor Accord for the town's inaugural Best Bite program.

Meanwhile, the NSW Electoral Commission says postal vote applications have more than doubled for Saturday's election compared with the 2019 poll.

The commission has received 540,208 applications to vote by post, an increase of 117 per cent on the 248,236 applications it received in 2019.

The postal vote applications amount to almost 10 per cent of the voting public in NSW.

By 9am on Wednesday, the electoral commission reported that 638,484 people, or 11.5 of all voters, had cast their vote since pre-poll booths opened on Saturday.

Postal vote packs must be returned to the commission by 6pm on Thursday.

To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.

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