THE State Opposition has promised to fully upgrade Gnangara Road into a four-lane dual carriageway if elected next year.
Labor Member for West Swan Rita Saffioti welcomed the news, adding the increased use of Perth’s major east-west road highlighted why it urgently needed major roadwork.
Opposition Transport spokesman Ken Travers said there was about $180 million sitting idle in the Road Trauma Trust Fund and he would use the finance to immediately fix Gnangara Road.
“Labor proposes to commit a further $10 million towards an upgrade, which would be subject to continuing negotiations with the City of Swan,” Mr Travers said.
“It’s appropriate that money from the Road Trauma Trust Fund is spent on upgrades to roads that are known to be dangerous, and it would be difficult to identify a more dangerous stretch of road in the metropolitan area,” he said.
City of Swan acting CEO Colin Cameron said it would cost about $24 million to undertake a major upgrade of the arterial road from Alexander Drive to Drumpellier Drive.
“More than 24,000 vehicles travel on Gnangara Road each day and traffic figures have grown over the past five years by more than 26 per cent,” he said.
Upgrade work on the first section of the road – from Drumpellier Drive to Pinaster Parade – started last month and is expected to be finished by December.
A full upgrade “would improve road safety and the travel amenity of the local as well as the regional community immensely,” Mr Cameron said.
“It has always been our intention to upgrade the whole of Gnangara Road west of Alexander Drive and we would welcome funding to help us deliver the much-needed dual carriageway.”