Shellharbour City Council's plans to bypass the Albion Park CBD are progressing, even though the long awaited extension of Tripoli Way remains potentially more than a decade away.
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The council recently spent $420,000 acquiring land on Calderwood Road to be used for the bypass of the Albion Park CBD, however the extension is not forecast to be be built until 2028 under the council's developer contributions plan.
The extension of Tripoli Way, seen as the long-term solution to reducing congestion on the Illawarra Highway through Albion Park, has been identified in council's section 94 contributions plan since 1993.
In 2007 the council resolved to wait until after the freeway extension was complete before moving forward with the Tripoli Way option.
A Shellharbour City Council spokeswoman said the most recent cost estimate for the Tripoli Way extension, prepared by the council in September 2012, was $17.5 million.
"The actual cost could vary from this figure and will be produced once the final detailed design, quantities and costing are undertaken," the spokeswoman said.
Of the total estimated cost, $13.9 million is to come from developer contributions. Approximately $2.4 million of developer funds has so far been collected for the project.
A further $7.2 million in developer funds will come from Lend Lease as part of the Calderwood voluntary planning agreement.
The Lend Lease money would be paid in stages to ensure that this infrastructure could be delivered when the demand was generated, the spokeswoman said.
Shellharbour Mayor Marianne Saliba said the council recognised there was heavy traffic through the Albion Park CBD during peak periods and the council was planning for future needs.
However Cr Saliba said from the council's perspective "timing is everything".
"We have to acquire land, we need to receive developer contributions and thirdly we need to link in with the Princes Motorway extension coming through - all those factors contribute to when the Tripoli Way extension will be built," Cr Saliba said.
"We don't want to miss the opportunity to have the Tripoli Way extension meeting up with the new freeway."
Construction of the $550 million Albion Park Rail bypass is expected to begin in 2019.
Cr Saliba said the council's current plan had the Tripoli Way extension built in one stage but it might need to be a staged project.
