Malcolm Turnbull, Will Hodgman commit to getting new Bridgewater bridge built by 2024
Updated
With the Prime Minister by his side, Premier Will Hodgman has declared the new Bridgewater Bridge will be built by 2024.
Malcolm Turnbull is in Tasmania to contribute to the Liberal by-election campaign in Braddon but stopped by Hobart to back the State Government's $115-million commitment to the $575-million project.
With the Budget to be released this afternoon, Mr Hodgman said a commitment to getting started on the new Bridgewater bridge would form part of a "massive infrastructure budget" with "strong commitments right across the state".
He promised a "commitment to get the bridge underway and built by 2024".
"It's a major project; it's one that will not only improve safety and amenity for those who want to cross the river but it will also be important infrastructure for supporting growth in our economy," Mr Hodgman said.
Mr Turnbull said all the money for the project was in place, with the State Government delivering its share today.
"There was $461 million in the federal budget and that's about 80 per cent of the cost. Will's putting up 20 per cent of the cost in the budget today," he told Triple M.
"So the money is there to get on and build it — we're gonna do it."
Mr Hodgman said he expected construction to start in three years.
"It'll be a couple of years in planning to get approvals, there'll be environmental issues, a lot of work done to make sure that when construction starts in about three years it should be delivered by 2024.
"It will be a massive infrastructure budget. It will literally be about building our state's future — building more roads, schools, hospitals."
Brighton Mayor Tony Foster said the new bridge would greatly benefit his municipality.
"We've always had a vision at Brighton that the future growth area of southern Tasmania is going to be in that corridor from Granton right on through," he said.
"This is very good news for the many motorists that not only use it now but will use it in the future."
Topics: government-and-politics, urban-development-and-planning, community-and-society, bridgewater-7030, tas, hobart-7000
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