NSW Labor has criticised the Liberal National government's delay in building a Singleton bypass, claiming money spent on a series of recent Sydney projects could have built the new road 20 times over.
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Speaking ahead of Labor's second regional shadow cabinet meeting in Singleton on Friday, Labor Leader Jodi McKay declared regional NSW deserved better.
"When I became the leader of the Labor Party I promised that Labor would be a party for regional and rural NSW.
"Communities like Singleton cannot be afterthoughts.
"That is why I have brought shadow cabinet to regional NSW.
"As someone who grew up in the Hunter region, I understand the importance of this project.
"There is no time to waste with traffic volumes already increasing in Singleton.
"The Labor Party is today calling on the government to speed up the Singleton bypass, which includes allocating the appropriate funding and releasing a construction timeline."
According to NSW Labor, the state government had previously admitted the Sydney bypass construction timeline relied on funding availability.
Labor spokesperson for Upper Hunter and Shadow Minister for Roads John Graham slammed the Liberal National government for falling short on its election promise.
"There is scarce detail about the Singleton bypass simply because of a lack of funding," he said.
"It's not good enough to only commit to 20 per cent of the total cost and then only allocate 2 per cent of that.
"The community is waiting, it's been waiting for a long time.
"The Premier claimed we could have it all, she clearly lied.
"It's a disgrace."
Labor Shadow Minister for the Hunter Clayton Barr said the Singleton community couldn't wait any longer.
"The bypass will remove up to 15,000 vehicles a day from the CBD," he said.
"This will completely transform Singleton for the better.
"You know that when there is no timeline that the government is not serious and that is a slap in the face for Singleton and the people of the Hunter."
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