Labor's multimillion-dollar pledge to Illawarra heartland

The accepted wisdom of locals is that the Illawarra would never see the cash being splashed about because the region is home to some of the safest Labor seats in the state.

However, this election has seen Labor promise more than $80 million worth of projects within the Illawarra.

These are not statewide initiatives that will benefit the Illawarra as well as the rest of NSW but promises to build infrastructure right here.

The Labor promises to date include $22 million to upgrade Wollongong Hospital, $20 million for the Albion Park bypass, $10 million for a study on the South Coast rail line, $10 million for M1 ramps at Dapto and $6 million for a new police station at Helensburgh.

The cash splash continued on Thursday, with a promise of $20 million for a feasibility study to extend Memorial Drive up to Bulli Pass and new schools at Calderwood, West Dapto and Flinders. Keira MP Ryan Park said he had "a long and detailed history" with what has become known as the Bulli bypass.

There has been work done within Transport for NSW before on taking the Memorial Drive to Bulli Pass.

These include a study for a 330-metre tunnel linking Memorial Drive to Bulli Pass just below the hairpin and, in 2013, $500,000 was spent on early planning work. But Mr Park said he wanted a more in-depth study than the one that cost half a million dollars.

"Certainly there are some in RMS who have previously said it would be very, very difficult but they've only essentially done a desktop analysis," Mr Park said.

"I wanted to do not just the desktop analysis for a couple of hundred thousand dollars, I wanted really detailed work done to determine the feasibility of the project in total.

"The route and the alignments and also the geotechnical work to determine how we're going to do this. We all know this is the edge of an escarpment and it's difficult terrain in terms of road infrastructure.

"This is a difficult project, I make no bones about it. That's why I didn't go in and ask for a small amount for the feasibility and planning work. Maryanne [Stuart - Labor's Heathcote candidate] and I sat down and said we want a detailed piece of work done to determine and then back go back to the community with the feasibility of this challenging process."

Any bypass would travel from the end of Memorial Drive along a largely preserved road corridor and around the back of the Bulli Showground. A connection to Bulli Pass just below the hairpin has long been dismissed as being far too expensive, with the more likely link to be further down towards the Lawrence Hargrave Drive intersection.

"We know the northern suburbs of the Illawarra have a significant problem when it comes to traffic congestion," Ryan Park said.

"Both Lawrence Hargrave Drive and Princes Highway have been for some time now at capacity in certain times of the day."

Being a feasibility study, it is possible the result could be that it isn't feasible to build the Bulli bypass, something Mr Park acknowledged.

"It is the missing piece but we have to get it right," he said.

"We have to determine whether it's feasible or not using the existing road corridor. The reality is we've got to do this first important stage right upfront to determine whether or not it is possible and also what is the route and what that alignment would look like."

A couple of hours after announcing the Bulli Pass project Labor committed to starting planning work on new primary schools south of Wollongong in Calderwood and West Dapto, and a new high school in Flinders.

Parents Sally and Mark Smith bought their home in Calderwood hoping a new high school would be built in the area in the near future.

While Sally and Mark welcomed the news of additional education infrastructure, their ultimate wish is for two-year-old Billie to join her brothers at Tullimbar Public School.

"There's too many kids at the school," Sally said.

"We'd also like our eldest son to start high school here, but don't think that would ever happen."

Speaking outside the Tullimbar Public School which is at 164 per cent capacity, NSW Labor deputy leader and shadow minister for education Prue Car was joined by Shellharbour MP Anna Watson and Kiama candidate Katelin McInerney for the announcement.

The trio said the new schools were vital to meet growing population demands, with Calderwood Valley development home to an estimated 12,500 residents.

Ms Car was unable to provide a time frame for the opening of the schools and admitted they would not be "built overnight", however said planning would start this year if Labor is elected.

"I'll be very proud to be down here again as soon as possible if we're elected next weekend to begin the consultation with these three communities to deliver these schools," Ms Car said.

It's clear there is a need for greater infrastructure funding in the Illawarra but the question remains - why in this election is Labor offering up so much funding in seats that are highly likely to vote for them anyway? Mr Park said it was a by-product of having two local MPs in senior roles - himself and Wollongong MP Paul Scully.

"We've made it very clear from the very beginning that the Illawarra has to be a priority area - it's an area that we need to focus on," Mr Park said.

"Whilst ever I'm here it has to be the case."

Mr Park also remembered the 2011 state election, which was a dark time for Labor. It lost the seats of Heathcote and Kiama and almost lost Wollongong to independent Gordon Bradbery.

In Keira, first-timer Mr Park saw a massive swing against him heading the way of Liberal candidate John Dorahy but managed to win the seat by less than 3000 votes.

"I think 2011 was a bit of a watershed mark for us because everyone, perhaps me more than most, learnt how much people can very quickly change their vote when they're not impressed with a major political party," he said.

"Having walked through that challenging time, I've never forgotten it, So I make it clear wherever I can both internally an externally that this is a region that needs to be resourced and needs to be prioritised."

Mr Park said he had drilled down to the booth figures in the northern Illawarra for local, state and federal elections and found people weren't wedded to one particular party across all three levels of government.

"That highlights that those people are happy to move their vote where they best feel a political party is going to meet their needs.

"That's why I've always said that this area has to be a priority. The days of people just voting a particular way are gone," he said.

Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.