Ballina Shire Mayor Sharon Cadwallader is stepping up the fight for Cumbalum’s missing M1 ramps after the Prime Minister signalled interchange upgrades would be the government’s next priority.

Anthony Albanese made the comments yesterday while officially opening the latest section of the M1 extension between Black Hill and Raymond Terrace.

For Ballina, the comments could breathe new life into a campaign to complete an interchange that has remained unfinished for more than two decades.

The Cumbalum interchange was built without a northbound off-ramp and southbound on-ramp, forcing drivers to use alternative routes through Ballina.

Cr Cadwallader said the timing of the Prime Minister’s comments provided another opportunity to press Ballina’s case.

“We’ve never stopped advocating for it,” she said.

“It’s always come up in every meeting, every conversation, how much we need it.”

The Mayor said the history of the project was important. Council had previously been given an expectation that attention would eventually return to Cumbalum once more dangerous black spots along the Pacific Highway had been dealt with.

“We have to keep advocating for that,” she said.

One alternative previously raised by NSW Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison would involve providing access through the back of the Cumbalum estate rather than completing the interchange as originally envisaged.

“That’s not really what most people want,” Cr Cadwallader said.

The Cumbalum Residents Association has also lobbied strongly for the missing ramps, bringing the issue back before councillors at this week’s A Ward meeting as pressure builds for the interchange to finally be completed.

More than convenience

Mayor Sharon Cadwallader and former Ballina Shire Council Infrastructure Director John Truman show the Cumbalum interchange to Anna Watson, Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Roads in 2024.

Completing the interchange would provide more direct access to the motorway and potentially reduce unnecessary traffic travelling through central Ballina.

But the experience of the 2022 floods has given council another argument.

“It’s about emergency response,” Cr Cadwallader said.

During the floods, council had to use traffic control to provide access to the M1 when normal road connections were disrupted, including for people needing to travel north for essential supplies.

The project has also faced an unusual hurdle in competing for government road funding.

As Ballina News Daily reported last year, projects are often prioritised according to their history of crashes and fatalities.

Cumbalum’s problem is obvious: there cannot be crashes on ramps that were never built.

Cr Cadwallader said advances in vehicle technology could provide governments with better ways of identifying potential trouble spots before serious crashes occur. Data on braking, speed and cornering can increasingly reveal problems without waiting for a history of collisions.

The interchange was originally left incomplete partly because of cost and concerns that allowing traffic to bypass Ballina would hurt local businesses.

More than 20 years later, Cumbalum has grown substantially, Ballina’s airport and surrounding employment areas are expanding and traffic patterns have changed.

The Prime Minister’s comments now give Ballina an opportunity to argue that completing Cumbalum should be part of the next phase of investment in the M1.

Related Story: ‘No Accidents, No Action’: Why Ballina’s Cumbalum Interchange Is Stalled