Improved traffic flow on a stretch of Ocean Drive in Port Macquarie is within reach if the NSW Coalition wins the March 23 election.
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A 3.4 kilometre section of Ocean Drive between Matthew Flinders Drive and Greenmeadows Drive will be duplicated thanks to a $50 million injection from the NSW Coalition, provided it is re-elected.
Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams announced the $50 million commitment on Thursday, March 14 to get the long-awaited duplication done if the Coalition wins the election.
The upgrade includes the duplication from two to four lanes between Matthew Flinders Drive and Greenmeadows Drive, as well as the upgrade of six intersections and access points and improved pedestrian access.
The $50 million is on top of a previous $10 million allocation from the NSW Coalition, while Port Macquarie-Hastings Council committed $5.5 million to the project in 2018.
The upgrade now has a price tag of about $65 million.
Mrs Williams said the project was pretty well "shovel ready".
"The congestion is just getting worse and worse," she said.
Mrs Williams said the upside was the work would not be too far away if the Coalition was re-elected because of the planning which had already been done.
A Crestwood resident of 17 years recognises the need for the upgrade.
She said Ocean Drive was chock-a-block in the morning and afternoon peak times with traffic down to 20km/h.
"It is banked up from Lighthouse Beach to the school," the resident said.
Another Crestwood resident, Derryl Huf, believes a four-lane roundabout with a slip lane is needed at the Crestwood intersection, rather than an Ocean Drive duplication.
"The problem is the roundabout and not being able to get enough traffic through the roundabout," he said.
Meanwhile, Carl Lewis, who lives in Crestwood, said he was not against the duplication if the upgrade came with sound barriers and residents viewed the plans before work started.
He would like to see a new road from the golf course area to the back of the hospital and a load limit on Ocean Drive.
Meanwhile, Ocean Drive would move from the council's responsibility to the state government's jurisdiction under a Coalition plan to transfer up 15,000 kilometres of council-owned roads.
"We know this is one way we can really support our local communities," Mrs Williams said.
Mayor Peta Pinson said the Ocean Drive upgrade, which had been on the books for a long time, would not be possible without the state government funding and support from Mrs Williams and Roads Minister Melinda Pavey.
"Our community would never be able to fund a project such as this on its own," she said.
"It will take the pressure off and alleviate the bumper to bumper traffic that we experience, particularly Monday to Friday."
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