$1.25 billion road project may not deliver as hoped

BY DANIELLE GULLACI

SIGNIFICANT cost blowouts and subsequent cut-backs from the originally proposed design of the Bunbury Outer Ring Road in WA means it may not deliver the sorts of benefits many transport operators had hoped.

A total of $852 million was originally budgeted for the road in 2019, but that figure has now blown out to $1.25 billion – which equates to more than $46 million per kilometre of road. And this is after modifications were made to try to bring costs down.

The 27-kilometre Bunbury Outer Ring Road – or ‘Mega-Bridge’ as it’s been dubbed – was supposed to be a game-changer for transport operators travelling through the city, especially those requiring access to the city’s port.

Construction for the fourlane road linking Forrest Highway to Bussell Highway started in 2021 and is due for completion in late 2024. It will cross over multiple roads, a freight rail line and a river.

Around 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles are expected to use the new road each day once completed – with motorists expected to save between 11 to 18 minutes on their journey, depending on their destination and peak traffic conditions.

The Bunbury Outer Ring Road is also being touted as being able to deliver improved safety for local residents by removing a significant number of trucks from local roads each day.

When extra funding was announced for the project last year, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the extra spend would cover increased costs of materials like bitumen, bridge beams, reinforcements, and the cost of transport.

The Northern Section of the project includes the stretch from Forrest Highway to Boyanup Picton Road, designed to provide better access for Bunbury CBD and Ferguson Valley.

The Southern Section runs from the South Western Highway to Bussell Highway, and includes interchanges at Bussell Highway and Centenary Road, and a connection to Jules Road.

To help with costs, sever- al key interchanges were also scrapped, with roundabouts added instead.

While the northern section of the road remains largely unchanged, it’s the southern section that’s been vastly simplified to save money – predominantly the major interchanges.

Among the changes was the scrapping of a major interchange at Willinge Drive that would’ve given trucks direct access to Bunbury’s port. That