Joe McGirr, Wagga City council call for stop to Travers Street traffic lights as Marshalls Creek bridge put off

Transport for NSW said the former government had cancelled the planned works to prioritise improving the intersections of the Olympic Highway with Travers Street and Old Narrandera Road on the other side of the city centre.

"Prioritising this work resulted in the Marshalls Creek Bridge upgrade project becoming a longer-term initiative following a former state government decision at the beginning of this year," a spokesperson for Transport for NSW said.

Campaigns to widen the Marshalls Creek Bridge - which reduces the Sturt Highway from two lanes to one in each direction at East Wagga - began eight years ago, when residents and commuters flagged the notorious bottleneck was inevitably going to result in accidents as merging traffic increased.

Then NSW Roads, Maritime and Freight Minister Melinda Pavey announced government plans to widen the bridge during the campaign for the 2018 Wagga byelection, alongside Liberal candidate Julia Ham.

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Since, the project timeline has been adjusted to account for what Transport for NSW said were delays in the planning and approvals process.

There is no funding allocated to widening Marshalls Creek Bridge at this time, despite a completed design and environmental investigation.

Commuters who travel across the bridge daily were devastated by the news the bridge upgrade was no longer in the cards.

Josh Afamasaga is new to town, but crosses the bridge regularly. He said it's obvious the bridge needs to be widened.

"I just moved here, so I'm still trying to get used to the place, but that definitely needs to be widened,"

Manager of the Big 4 Holiday Park close to the bridge Sue Antill said threw her hands up in frustration when she heard plans to widen the bridge this year had been cancelled.

"With the amount of traffic that goes through here, and the number of people who want to get to the walking track from here - that's very, very disappointing," she said.

"They're all coming into the petrol station, and it's bottle necking over the bridge.

"We often have people wanting to walk into town and they can't safely walk across the bridge on this side, so they've got to dash in between the traffic to get top the other side of the bridge ... it's very dangerous."

Wagga Mayor Dallas Tout said the community had been left with a project they didn't want at the expense of one they did.

"There's been 'consultation', happen ... they were given quite direct feedback, and our submissions are a matter of public record" he said

"The consultation just doesn't seem to have been listened to.

"That's why I'm saying let's pause it, have a look at the whole picture."

Labor Councillor Dan Hayes said this was a new low for the previous government.

"This completes the royal flush of broken by-election promises by the Liberal National Government. Hospital car park is half the size, $20 million for the Conservatorium was taken back, and now Marshall's Creek bridge being basically cancelled," he said.

"The previous government would prefer Wagga to build a bridge and get over it, but they cancelled that one too.

"They have broken another promise and did have the respect to tell the community before the election."

Cr Hayes said Wagga MP Doctor Joe McGirr was at least partially culpable for the lack of action on the bridge.

Dr McGirr refuted these claims, saying he couldn't be held responsible for the actions of a government he was not a part of. He said he had regularly presented Wagga council's views to the government in good faith.

He said the former government's decision was "very disappointing, but not surprising".

"The previous government gave a commitment to fund both projects. If there wasn't sufficient funding, it would have been up to them to find the funding," he said.

"The priority should be the Marshalls Creek Bridge works, which are clearly needed, have community support, and then we need to do a study on the duplication of the Gobba.

"We shouldn't be doing any work on the intersection until we resolve that issue."

Dr McGirr said he was already concerned about the future of the project because of the delays it had been subject to. He said that he was eager to work with the new regional roads minister Jenny Aitchison on resolving these issues.

"I have to say she's been very receptive to my representations, and I think I've developed a strong and constructive relationship with them," he said.

Former roads minister Sam Farraway was contacted, but did not respond prior to publication.

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