The Dapto CBD is "a car park" for locals, according to Shellharbour MP Anna Watson, and the state government needs to do something about it.
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In Ms Watson's eyes, that something would be on and off-ramps to the M1 Princes Motorway.
"I continue to receive a never-ending stream of correspondence from constituents who are angry and fed up with the lack of access to and from Dapto from the M1 freeway and their exclusion from the Albion Park Rail bypass - the half-cooked bypass," Ms Watson said.
"Residents of the Dapto area feel as though they are continually forgotten, with this government refusing to build on and off ramps to the M1 from Kanahooka Road."
At present, there is only a northbound on ramp and a southbound off ramp on Kanahooka Road, with Dapto residents who want to access the Albion Park Rail bypass needing to head north to Northcliffe Drive to get on the M1 southbound.
She also called for ramps at Emerson Road, which is just an overpass at present, seeing them as a necessity to service the growing population at West Dapto.
"I have been calling for this for years ad nauseam and I have not had a single response from any of the ministers whom I have written to about the on and off ramps or the widening of the M1," she said.
Ms Watson also took issue with the congestion in the Dapto CBD.
"The main street of Dapto, it is a car park for motorists," she said.
"The traffic is increasingly congested because the population is growing at around 8 per cent, which is very fast. Yet the road infrastructure is woeful. Going through six sets of traffic lights to get from the south to the north is just ridiculous."
In a response, Transport for NSW said investigations along the M1 in the southern suburbs was under way, but did not directly address the issue of ramps.
"Transport is investigating options to improve transport in the Illawarra region," a spokeswoman said.
"This work is building on the preliminary investigations carried out as part of the M1 Princes Motorway between Figtree and Dapto project that had a focus on safety and efficiency along the motorway.
"These investigations will take a holistic look at infrastructure and service options to improve customers' travel experience across a range of travel modes and is not limited to motorway improvements.
"We anticipate this planning work will be finalised towards the end of 2022."
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