EXCLUSIVE
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The Fowlers Road bridge at West Dapto has been selected as one of the projects to benefit from the $100 million Illawarra infrastructure fund.
Minister for the Illawarra John Ajaka will be at the University of Wollongong today to formally announce the successful projects.
The Illawarra Mercury has been told the Fowlers Road bridge at West Dapto is on that list, as is the iAccelerate facility at the University of Wollongong and the aged and healthcare services building on the Kiama Hospital site.
The university was seeking $20 million for its iAccelerate project, Wollongong City Council asked for $22.5 million for the bridge and Kiama council sought $8 million for the aged-care facility.
It is not known at this stage whether these projects will be fully or partially funded by the infrastructure fund.
It is believed there are at least four other projects on the list, including one in the Shoalhaven local government area.
It is not known whether any projects in the Wingecarribee and Shellharbour areas have received funding.
The Fowlers Road bridge will link the Princes Highway and Fowlers Road intersection to Fairwater Drive roundabout.
The construction will open up the West Dapto area, already identified by the NSW government as an area that will provide the Illawarra's future housing needs to the tune of up to 17,000 new homes.
It will also provide an alternate access route to West Dapto, freeing up the often congested Bong Bong Road.
The University of Wollongong's iAccelerate project would see a facility built to offer assistance to high-tech start-up companies in the Illawarra, as well as offering a 3D printing cafe for public use.
Kiama council's funding would go towards the construction of an aged and healthcare services facility on the Kiama Hospital site.
The facility will include a nursing home and hostel for the council's Blue Haven aged-care facility.
The $100 million infrastructure fund comes from the proceeds of the leasing of Port Kembla. When Treasurer Mike Baird announced the lease in the 2012 budget, the region was promised $100 million to spend on infrastructure projects.
Earlier this year, Infrastructure NSW received 124 applications for funding which it whittled down to a shortlist of 20 projects asking for a total of $172 million.
The shortlist featured nine projects from the Wollongong local government area, four from Wingecarribee, three from Shoalhaven and two each from Kiama and Shellharbour.
A series of public meetings were held following the release of the shortlist to assess community support for the projects before Infrastructure NSW gave the government its list of recommended projects to fund.