Community Connect South welcomes $80m commitment

The Cities of Cockburn and Armadale have welcomed Federal Labor’s commitment of $80 million towards building the Armadale Road Bridge.

Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett and Armadale Mayor Henry Zelones yesterday joined Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Hon. Anthony Albanese for the funding announcement at the future project site on Armadale Road.

“Labor’s promise of 50 per cent of the $160 million required to build the Armadale Bridge that will connect North Lake Road with Kwinana Freeway and Armadale Road shows it is listening to community concern about congestion,” Mayor Howlett said.

“The bridge is the critical second half of the Armadale Road project.

“Widening Armadale Road without building the bridge will only push congestion further into Cockburn Central.”

Armadale Mayor Henry Zelones said the funding announcement will delight the Armadale, Cockburn Central and Forrestdale business communities and is a major victory for the Community Connect South (CCS) campaign.

“Clearly both sides of politics are recognising the value of this project but we need a firm commitment that whoever wins Government will actually deliver,” he said.

“The CCS campaign has struck a chord with local residents and community groups who have embraced the initiative in force.”

More than 25,000 people have viewed the promotional video since the commencement of phase two of the CCS campaign just four weeks ago.

“The CCS initiative is a timely reminder of the true power of the collective community voice, and we will continue our campaign on behalf of our local communities,” Mayor Howlett said.

“During the announcement, Hon. Anthony Albanese stated his preference was to see the bridge constructed at the same time as Armadale Road is widened, and this is what we are seeking as part of the CCS campaign.”

Mayor Zelones said the official funding commitment from Federal Labor was a huge step forward for the campaign, but it is evident that support for the project has been shown from both sides of politics in the lead up to the Federal election on 2 July.

“The joint CCS campaign will continue to escalate over coming weeks, with both Councils set to publish the status of pledges to the project after 6 June,” he said.