Users of the future Bunbury Outer Ring Road will have better access to Bunbury and Ferguson Valley after the state government made a design change for the project.
Previously, the project proposed a partial interchange at South Western Highway, only allowing cars travelling north on outer ring road to access the highway eastbound and cars heading west on the highway to join outer ring road to travel south.
The revised concept design includes additional ramps to allow traffic to make all movements between the two roads.
Extensive traffic modelling has been undertaken to ensure the road network can continue to operate efficiently once planned developments for Wanju and Waterloo come to fruition.
The state government said the updated interchange design would further improve access to destinations within the Greater Bunbury area, including Bunbury CBD and Ferguson Valley, a developing tourist hotspot.
The revised concept design also includes realigning Waterloo Road to amend its current connection with South Western Highway.
Resident Brian Rettinger said he got the best Christmas present in the world when he heard the news of the change in design.
He said the 85,000 people of greater Bunbury would now benefit from the Bunbury Outer Ring Road where as before the city would have been by-passed.
"It now sets the region up for future growth," he said.
Collie Preston MLA Mick Murray said the new interchange would improve access to the outer ring road for community and businesses in the Picton East industrial area.
"Part of the new concept also realigns Waterloo Road to eliminate the existing T-intersection, which has historically experienced a number of serious crashes," he said.
Bunbury MLA Don Punch said it was a win-win.
"This design change is a great outcome and demonstrates the State Government is listening to the community and using their feedback to improve the project's development," he said.
"An additional entry point to Bunbury from the Outer Ring Road will increase the access options for visitors as well as improving convenience for locals in the greater Bunbury area.
"This design improvement clearly demonstrates the State Government is building a true ring road, not a bypass, with multiple, functional entry points leading to the heart of Bunbury that enhance ease of access to our city."
