The small stretch of country road causing huge problems
It’s only 150 meters across, but closing a small section of a major highway causes construction materials to stall during a housing crunch, delays in healthcare and potentially changes the political tide.
The Great Western Highway, a vital link between western NSW and Sydney, has been closed for more than 100 days at the Victoria Pass after cracks were discovered in a convict-era causeway.
While the path to the rest of the Blue Mountains highway and another scenic route remains open, the closure has widespread consequences.
Wide load trucks cannot travel on any of the available routes, forcing house frame manufacturer Westruss to cut supplies to western Sydney housing projects.
The multigenerational business that helped set up the 2000 Olympics has laid off staff and stands to lose nearly $6 million in annual revenue.
Like many in the midwest, Westruss chief executive Leon Cheney fears the road could remain closed for years.
“Transport companies will raise prices to come here… and tourism will suffer,” Mr Cheney told AAP at his warehouse in Orange.
“Everything will manage to hide a little bit.
“But they can’t open an unsafe road either.”
The closure and fuel costs have been a double whammy for Bathurst Community Transport, a subsidized service that takes elderly people and cancer patients to specialist appointments in Sydney.
Chief executive Kathryn Akre said while the service was still operational, some patients were skipping care rather than face the longer journey.
This deepens health inequality in a region where geography and centralization are already obstacles, he said.
“Services like mine try to help address this inequality by getting people where they need to go,” Ms Akre told AAP.
Ms Akre said the highway closure had the same impact as a natural disaster for many small businesses, but some locals felt government support was not enough.
“How many businesses need to close and how many people need to close before they can support us?”
The NSW government announced a $3.5 million package in May offering grants to small businesses in villages near Victoria Gateway and several councils further west.
“This support will help our regional communities continue to trade, welcome visitors and sustain the agricultural and economic activities on which our province depends,” said provincial minister Tara Moriarty.
But some communities remain frustrated.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson met with affected business owners in May, claiming the road had been neglected for too long.
Charles Sturt University political scientist Dominic O’Sullivan said this was the kind of issue that could affect votes.
“Credibility has always been a One Nation issue, but at the same time it may not matter if people get so desperate that they stop listening to the other sides,” Professor O’Sullivan told AAP.
The state government will unveil a design solution for the causeway in late June.
