Cost of long-awaited Bussell Highway duplication in WA's South West doubles to $170m
The single-lane stretch of Bussell Highway between Capel and Busselton has long been a traffic bottleneck, particularly during holidays and long weekends when tens of thousands of tourists make the 200-kilometre drive south from Perth.
Sold as a solution to those frustrations, duplicating the highway has also come at double the initial projected cost, according to figures revealed during budget estimates hearings last week.
The major road project has dragged on despite the Cook government promising its completion by the end of 2024.
A Main Roads spokesperson said some short-term traffic management may remain in place, but the majority of work was now complete.
However, months of delays and many millions in additional spending have left some locals pondering whether it was worth the cash and time.
Capel resident Corrie Young said she was unimpressed with the final product.
She regularly uses the road to drive in and out of Busselton.
"I'm not very happy with it at all," she said.
Ms Young said the last few years had been "terrible" as construction on the road had dragged on, leaving many drivers frustrated over lane closures and speed reductions.
Others were more positive.
"It's fantastic, I can just zip down from the farm to Busselton. It's flat, it's smooth, it's quick," commuter Steve Jones said.
In WA's Legislative Council estimates last week, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti blamed the price escalation on rising construction costs around the world.
"I am very proud that we have delivered the Bussell Highway duplication," she said.
"It was not an election commitment, but I was very determined to get it done, and we did it through negotiations with the Commonwealth."
The Bussell Highway duplication is not the only road project that has blown out in WA's south.
The cost of the Bunbury Outer Ring Road that opened late last year — now the Wilman Wadandi Highway — swelled to $1.46 billion, more than $600 million over what was initially estimated.
Questions also remain around the overall benefit delivered by both projects.
Curtin University researcher and former Infrastructure Australia board member Peter Newman said the development, while popular, came at the cost of alternatives.
"Both of them are extraordinarily over-designed … in my view, they take up a massive amount of space," Professor Newman said.
He believed the money would be better spent on electric public transport links to the South West region.
"These [ideas] are not ever getting onto the agenda because of the massive amount of money that is being spent on these kinds of [road] projects."
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