Half a million dollars was included in last week's state budget to continue planning the local heavy vehicle bypass route.
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But despite the funding continuing there has been no indication when we will see work commence on the long awaited project, and Tenterfield Shire Council has indicated they have not been given an update on progress for almost two years.
Tenterfield mayor Peter Petty this week told the Tenterfield Star the council was fully supportive of it going ahead and they just wanted to get it to the final stage, but they had not received any information recently.
"Our biggest problem is getting Roads and Traffic NSW to the table, and keeping us informed every three or four months of where it's at," Cr Petty said.
"Because the last time we spoke, which was October two years ago, there were 24 land acquisitions they needed to do, they'd settled on 14 and had 10 to go. Once that's done we just need to get it funded then.
"Hopefully they're at the final stage of that," he said.
The project includes 4.5 kilometres of new road, starting just north of the Tenterfield Creek Bridge on the southern edge of town, running west of the railway line and re-joining the existing New England Highway north of Tenterfield.
A spokesperson for Transport for NSW said the department was finalising the concept design and Review of Environmental Factors (REF), when contacted by the Tenterfield Star and asked how the $500,000 funding would be spent.
The REF is expected to go on public display later this year, giving locals a chance to have their say on the design.
That timeline was revealed when state MP Janelle Saffin asked the question in parliament following the recent late-night truck fire in Rouse Street, which prompted debate about the bypass.
Ms Saffin had asked the state government for both a start and completion date for the bypass project, although the answer only addressed the current planning phase.
That funding was intended to take it through land aquisition and the detailed design stage, right up to the point of starting contruction when and if funding for that phase is allocated.
