General News
8 February, 2023
Road funding promised
ALMOST $11.2 million in road upgrades for Woorndoo-Chatsworth Road has been confirmed after a nervous wait.
ALMOST $11.2 million in road upgrades for Woorndoo-Chatsworth Road has been confirmed after a nervous wait.
The funding was originally secured in May 2022 under the Remote Roads Upgrade Pilot Program.
However, Western District Newspapers reported in December last year the Federal Government had not made a firm commitment to honour the funding announced under the previous Morrison government.
Last week, in a statement to Western District Newspapers, The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts confirmed the funding would be honoured and upgrades on the road would soon begin.
“The Australian Government has recognised the need to support local roads across Australia, particularly those in regional and remote Australia, by continuing to support the Remote Roads Upgrade Pilot Program (RRUPP),” a department spokesperson said.
“We are providing $150 million in funding for 33 projects under the RRUPP, including nearly $11.18 million for Moyne Shire Council to deliver the Chatsworth-Woorndoo Road upgrade.
“The Government has now finalised arrangements for the delivery of the RRUPP and confirmed successful projects.
“The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts is working with Moyne Shire Council and other successful funding recipients to progress their projects, which are expected to be delivered by December 2024.”
Moyne Shire mayor Karen Foster said the shire was “very thankful” to have received confirmation of the funding.
“It means a doubling of our road renewal budget this year and will help us deliver these important upgrades for our community faster,” she said.
“Council is committed to upgrading our local road network for our residents and our visitors.
“This particular stretch of road was a key priority of the previous mayor, Cr Ian Smith, and we are delighted with the outcome.
“GPS systems send people along these roads as the shortest route the Grampians and Great Ocean Road – so we have drivers who may not be used to driving on narrow rural roads sharing them with trucks, local residents and other farm vehicles.”
Cr Foster said the upgrades would widen the road, providing an important safety boost for drivers while allowing council to deliver its road renewal program in full.
“This funding is allowing us to complete these works, while still delivering on our budgeted program of road renewals which is more than $10 million for this year,” she said.
“We thank the Federal Government for this funding and look forward to continuing to work with them and the State Government to deliver more investment into roads across Moyne.
“Council has launched an online roads portal where residents are able to stay up-to-date with the progress of our road renewal and resealing program as well as other information about our local road network.
“It can be found online at www.moyne.vic.gov.au/roads.”
