In short:
East coast residents say St Marys Pass needs urgent upgrades or re-routing as large trucks and rockfalls pose risks to motorists.
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trucks → say → motorists
The Tasmanian government recently released a report assessing seven options for the road, the most expensive costing up to $2.7 billion.
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expensive → release → billion
The state and federal governments haven't yet committed to funding any full project and they're arguing about what a funding split might look like.
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split → commit → what
A Tasmanian east coast resident is concerned she could "become a statistic" if changes aren't made to St Marys Pass — a notorious stretch of road frequently used to get to the coast.
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changes → concern → coast
The winding, six-kilometre stretch of convict-built road, connecting the town of St Marys with the east coast struggles to cater for modern traffic.
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stretch → build → traffic
Scamander resident and former Burnie mayor Sandra French has lived in the coastal town for eight years and often uses St Marys Pass to get to Launceston.
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French → live → Launceston
"The trucks are getting bigger, they're getting heavier and we're having falls, landslides coming from the top," she said.
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she → get → top
"I went up one day and it was falling behind me and I rang police and they had to come down and clear it."
Ms French also recalled a trip where she was nearly hit by a truck coming through.
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she → go → truck
"This huge truck came round … and he came so close to the car I pulled over and put my hands over my face thinking, 'he's going to hit me',"she said.
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he → come → face
"Thankfully he didn't … it was just unbelievable."
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it → do → ?
Ms French said she would like a route just for heavy vehicles.
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she → say → vehicles
"These trucks are on secondary roads, that were built for oxen and a cart."
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that → build → oxen
St Marys resident Carmel Sullivan said she also felt scared using the road.
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she → say → road
"I suffered a bit of whiplash when I was young in a car accident and now I tense up doing St Marys Pass,"she said.
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I → suffer → accident
Ms Sullivan said she did not know anyone who liked using the road.
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who → say → road
"Every single mainland visitor I've had, have said what a terrible road that is," she said.
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she → have → ?
Seven options considered
Both women and most others in the surrounding communities want a safer drive.
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women → consider → drive
Some want a completely new route, others an upgrade of the current infrastructure.
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others → want → infrastructure
Earlier this month Building Tasmania released a report detailing costings and community feedback on seven proposals to improve the notorious road.
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Tasmania → release → road
Project costs ranged from $50 million to $2.7 billion.
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costs → range → billion
An option known as the "blue route", which would re-route the pass along an existing TasNetworks power line north of the current road, received the most positive community response.
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which → know → response
Building Tasmania also favoured it as the "shortest and straightest route" but when factoring in cost, community support and deliverability, it backed what is known as the "purple route".
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what → favour → route
"The purple route provides the best balance of cost, deliverability, environmental outcomes and community support,"the report said.
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report → provide → cost
The cheapest option at $50-$70 million, the purple route would maintain and upgrade the existing route over 10 years.
Challenging terrain
For three months in late 2022, the narrow stretch of road, sandwiched between forest and large rock walls, was closed after a major landslip.
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stretch → maintain → landslip
The closure, between the Tasman Highway and Esk Highway, significantly affected emergency service access, the delivery of essential goods and tourism during the sector's peak period.
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closure → affect → period
The steep slopes, geology, and sensitive ecosystems across the region create "significant challenges" for road design and construction for both new and existing roads, according to Building Tasmania.
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slopes → create → Tasmania
A spokesperson said most upgrade options assessed had sections of more than 50 per cent that would be highly susceptible to landslip.
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that → say → landslip
The "red route", which would use an existing road through Upper Scamander, was the exception with 25 per cent of the route susceptible.
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cent → use → route
That option was costed at $2.7 billion.
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option → cost → billion
Who will pay?
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Who → pay → ?
State Infrastructure Minister Kerry Vincent has all but ruled out the two options costed at $1 billion and $2.7 billion.
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Vincent → rule → billion
"[That] is a phenomenal amount of money when we've got an existing road there that can be done up much cheaper," Mr Vincent said.
"
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Vincent → get → road
Alterations to the existing road are the most sensible.
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Alterations → exist → road
"
But, even that cheapest option is not guaranteed of receiving funding.
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option → guarantee → funding
"The recently released options assessment will be used to determine whether any of the options will progress to further planning and design work, noting any new routes will be extremely expensive to deliver," Mr Vincent said.
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Vincent → release → work
Traditionally, road projects in Tasmania have been 80 per cent funded by the federal government and 20 per cent by the state government.
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cent → fund → government
But the federal government's policy changed in late 2023 to preference for a 50:50 funding split.
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policy → change → split
The federal government has allocated $10 million towards St Marys Pass upgrades.
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government → allocate → upgrades
It is not yet clear if, or how, a complete project would be funded.
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project → fund → ?
"The most cost-effective option to deliver immediate improvements is to upgrade portions of the existing road, and we are working with the Australian Government on the best use of their committed $10 million,"Mr Vincent said.
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Vincent → deliver → 10
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia