To be revealed on Tuesday night, the budget will include almost $1 billion to upgrade infrastructure in Tasmania.

There will be $400 million for the Bass Highway, and $59.8 million for the Tasmanian Freight Rail Revitalisation program.

A bane of Hobart traffic, the Bridgewater Bridge, will be given a $576 million makeover, with $461 million of this to come from the Commonwealth government.

The ailing bridge has been in the sights of road safety groups, councils, and indeed the state government for about 10 years.

It’s not just an investment in Hobart – what Tasmanian hasn’t crossed the Bridgewater Bridge?

Its upgrade plays into the continued work on the Midland Highway, another major part of connecting the state.

As acknowledged, all Tasmanians will find a benefit in a new Bridgewater Bridge. It will raise one question, however, for the North.

In the election campaign, the Liberals promised to begin work on a bridge to connect the East and West Tamar highways.

While there were not any concrete plans released for the connector, then infrastructure minister Rene Hidding said the bridge would likely intercept the West Tamar Highway in between Riverside and Legana.

Legana has been one of the fastest growing suburbs in the state, and shows no signs of slowing down. The East Tamar is equally important, a key gateway between Launceston and the ports of Bell Bay.

The Examiner has been hearing of traffic woes through Riverside for years, and the strain on Invermay’s road infrastructure is no secret.

Mr Hidding said at the time that the bridge could be a reality within the decade.

For those who feel the strain on the city’s roads, 10 years could seem like an eternity. But to adapt a phrase, a bridge wasn’t built in a day.

It has, after all, taken the same amount of time to commit to renovating an already existing bridge, so we must not expect overnight miracles. For some Northerners, patience will be hard to come by, as the Bridgewater project pushes forward and the Tamar Bridge plan remains on the horizon.

Parochialism is part of Tasmania’s kitsch charm, but we must all be united when it comes to supporting projects that benefit the whole of the state.