Dapto Neighbourhood Forum convener Gordon Cooke said Wollongong City Council had ignored public concerns over the West Dapto Access Strategy.

The $72 million project, including a new bridge and roadway, is designed to open up new housing and create employment for 17,500 extra residents over the next two decades.

Construction will begin in August, and will include a $16 million bridge and roadway from Fairwater Dr to Cleveland Rd and an extension of Fowlers Rd to Marshall St.

The work was fast-tracked in January after the council accepted a $26 million loan from the State Government.

It was a condition of the loan that work be completed within 18 months.

But Mr Cooke claims residents have been sidelined in the rush to do the work.

"They haven't responded to calls for a public meeting - they have put their proposals in place, and for those interested in the problem, it falls short of what should have been done," Mr Cooke said.

"(The plan) will service new developments in the short term, and provide developers with an access strategy, but it does very little for the people who have resided in Horsley for the last 20 years."

Mr Cooke criticised the shelving of the proposed $70 million Fowlers Rd Bridge, and said a $15 million road link between Fairwater Dr and Cleveland Rd would endanger students by increasing traffic past Dapto High School and Dapto Primary School.

But the council's general manager, David Farmer, said a reduction in the number of homes in the first stages of the land release meant the bridge link was no longer necessary.

"At a cost of $30 million, the new access strategy provides three options in and out of West Dapto for half the price of the Fowlers Rd Bridge," Mr Farmer said.

He defended the council's record of community consultation, citing a public meeting held at Horsley in May and numerous drop-in sessions and information kiosks, which had attracted 360 people.

Mr Farmer said the council was seeking to change draft designs to address the community's concerns about school safety.

But he noted a Fowlers Rd Bridge would carry the same quantity of traffic past the primary school.