The proposed F6 motorway extension should be renamed the F1½, Labor MP for Kogarah, Chris Minns, told State Parliament.
Mr Minns said there would be “carmageddon” as thousands of cars were “dumped” on to local roads in St George from the tunnel entry and exit in President Avenue, Kogarah.
However Cronulla MP and Attorney-General Mark Speakman accused the Labor Party of obstructing an essential development for southern Sydney it failed to build when it was in government.
The subject was aired in Parliament following the community meeting at the Moorefield Bowling Club this month, which was attended by more than 200 residents, with some observers claiming the number exceeded 300,.
Mr Minns said, “We have been left with a chaotic situation whereby the government—with a straight face—has announced that a section of the F6 will be built with the stated premise of reducing surface traffic”.
”At the same time, the government is executing a secret plan to introduce 24-hour clearways through the heart of many of our active civic precincts.
“This is a misguided, half-baked project, and I ask any St George resident who is inclined to believe the government: why is the government attempting to introduce 24-hour clearways if it is genuinely building the F6 tunnel?
“The reason is that this is not a road from the city to the shire; it is a tiny road from President Avenue, Kogarah to the WestConnex.
‘The government is in the process of introducing oppressive changes to traffic rules because it is convinced that there will be a ‘carmageddon’ through the streets of St George as thousands of cars are dumped onto local roads in order to join the WestConnex.
“The F6 is not a complete project; it should be called the F1½, because that is all that is being built—only a very small section of the road.”
Mr Speakman accused Labor of moving to obfuscate and obstruct an essential development for southern Sydney.
“We have not seen an F6 not only because of the massive infrastructure backlog that this government has had to clear but also because of the inertia and obstruction of successive Labor governments,” he said.
“As far back as 1951 a road reservation for an F6 was set aside connecting central Sydney with the then planned Southern Freeway at Waterfall.
“The Department of Main Roads established a program of purchasing land in that corridor, but the only section developed to freeway standard has been Captain Cook Bridge and its approaches.
“When in government Labor's record on the F6 was not merely one of inaction but one of outright opposition.
“Under Labor governments much of the corridor was sold off or otherwise abandoned.”
Mr Speakman said he was astounded by Labor’s opposition given the government was planning stage 1 of the F6 underground to minimise disruption, property acquisitions, damage to sensitive wetlands, and the loss of open space and parklands.
He said Mr Minns and Rockdale MP Steve Kamper “could not have it any better”.
Mr Speakman said the Opposition was “all over the place” on its F6 policy.
In January, 2017, Labor leader Luke Foley had said on ABC Radio, the Opposition supported stages one and two (as far as Sans Souci), but was yet to be convinced of the merit of stage three, to Waterfall.
