Eastern Shore alternative to new bridge

AMID discussion on the plan to spend a huge amount for a replacement Bridgewater bridge (which is not fit for purpose because it does not provide for rail), it is surely time to step back a pace and consider more realistic alternatives. There is an almost-new four lane bridge paid for by the Commonwealth just north of the zincworks, not far from the site of the proposed Bridgewater Bridge and with an upgraded link to Brooker Highway.

How best to use this gift from the Feds? One way would be to open up the road network on the Eastern Shore – much also funded by the Commonwealth as part of the Tasman Bridge restoration obligation – to provide a link to the Midland Highway. Even if the cost is substantial, and this could be moderated by staged reconstruction, benefits to the communities through which it passes would exceed any of a monster bridge at the end of a national highway.

As this alternative would not cater for rail, a necessity for the growing Bridgewater/Brighton population, another would be for a permanent rail link on the site of the present lift bridge. Such a link could be a bascule or even swing bridge as sensibly provided by our forebears.

The options are many and all practical, because it is much cheaper to provide for a single rail link than a high four-lane road. Also, and this should appeal to our politicians, it would not be necessary to make a decision until the lift bridge becomes unusable. I think all this is called “thinking outside the square”, a process which seems to have been sadly lacking to date.

David Keyes Austins Ferry