HORSHAM Rural City Council has released the preliminary draft report that recommends improved bridges, new roundabouts and a long-term Horsham bypass option.
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The report is part of stage one of the Horsham Integrated Transport Plan and is aimed at improving urban traffic in Horsham and reducing the number of trucks that pass through the city.
The report was released on Friday at noon after a transport committee meeting with stakeholders.
The report recommends support for VicRoad’s ‘option D’ for the bypass, which would see a connection between the Western Highway and Gatehouse Rd to the east of Horsham with a Henty Highway intersection.
The report has recommended that revisions be sought to the VicRoads option to accommodate Horsham Aerodrome and floodplain issues.
There was also a recommendation for a new bridge at Curran Road, creating a new thoroughfare past Horsham to the West.
Three Mile Rd and Remlaw Station Rd would be used to link Western Highway to Wimmera Highway.
The report proposes to carry out improved roundabouts within five years and the major bypass works within 25 to 40 years.
Mayor Heather Phillips encouraged all interested persons, groups and businesses to make a submission on the report.
The report and its recommendations have yet to be endorsed by Horsham Council.
Interested parties will have three weeks from Friday to make a submission on the report.
Councillors are due to debate the report’s bypass recommendations at a meeting in mid to late September.
The report’s 21 recommendations were:
- Three Bridges Rd bridge over Mackenzie River be improved to allow unrestricted use of Golf Course Rd
- The intersection of Three Bridges Rd and Horsham-Noradjuha Rd be improved to cater for large turning vehicles
- The intersection of Horsham-Noradjuha Rd and Wimmera Hwy be improved to cater for large turning vehicles
- The intersection of Golf Course Rd and Kenny Rd be improved with the construction of a roundabout
- The intersection of Western Hwy and Golf Course Rd and Henty Hwy be improved by either traffic signalisation or a roundabout
- A new link road be created from the intersection of Golf Corse Rd and Kenny Rd in a northwesterly direction to Curran Rd at the Wimmera River
- A new bridge be constructed over the Wimmera River at Curran Rd
- Curran Rd be constructed from Wimmera River to Wimmera Hwy within the existing road reserve with suitable buffers to adjoining properties
- A roundabout be constructed at Wimmera Hwy and Curran Rd intersection
- Curran Rd road reserve be widened to 40m wide to cater for future development and traffic demands and to provide suitable buffers to adjoining properties
- The intersection of Curran Rd and Western Hwy and Geodetic Rd be improved to cater for a realignment of the Western Hwy to the west to allow B-Double access over the rail line at Geodetic Rd; include realignment of Riley Rd and Geodetic Rd east of the rail line
- Upgrade Geodetic Rd from Rileys Rd to Gatehouse Rd to cater for B-Double traffic
- Continue with the upgrade of Dooen School Rd between Blue Ribbon Rd and Henty Hwy to cater for traffic from both north and south to access WIFT
- Improve the intersection of Blue Ribbon Rd and Dooen School Rd to cater for turning traffic
- Improve the intersection of Wimmera Hwy/Henty Hwy/Dooen School Rd to cater for entering and turning traffic
- Support a Western Hwy bypass of Horsham on the alignment of VicRoads preferred Option D subject to the controlling factors at Horsham Aerodrome and the Wimmera River Floodplain being resolved. If these issues are not satisfactorily resolved then the preferred alignment for the bypass shall be reviewed
- Encourage VicRoads to revise the Option D bypass interchange at Henty Hwy to incorporate a folded diamond interchange to reduce impact on properties and to reduce the impact on access via the local road network
- Construct a full diamond interchange at the north end of bypass Option D to allow unrestricted bi-directional access to Three Mile Rd and to Horsham via the current Western Hwy from the bypass
- Construct Three Mile Rd and Remlaw Station Rd from the Western Hwy to Wimmera Hwy
- Pursue the opportunity to relocate the rail line from Horsham and create a co-location opportunity for a rail line/bypass alignment
Many of the works will be dependent on state government funding to proceed.
The report was prepared by Ballarat company Driscoll Engineering Services.
Driscoll director and principle engineer Gary Driscoll said the recommendations would create a road network that directed traffic where it needed to go easily and quickly.
“It provides for both the through transport and the local traffic,” he said.
“There are demands of local traffic that will be met adequately by new river crossings, improved intersections and improved road links.”
Transport committee chairman Cr David Grimble said the report would now go out to the public for comment before returning to council
“Once we get feedback from the community, the council will deliberate on what it chooses to endorse or amend or reject,” he said.
“If there are elements that the council wants to pursue, there will be more detailed work around that.
“There will be budgetary considerations and some elements of the integrated transport strategy have short-term and ling-term time spans.”
Cr Grimble said the draft report was stage one of a multi-stage process.
“This is stage one of a three-stage that council has indicated that it is willing to do, and we will go to other municipalities as well,” he said.
Transport strategy stakeholders were the first to see the plans on late Friday morning.
Cr Grimble said there were a range of views presented at the meeting.
“The views are around the time available to comment on the report, around what might be the preferred bypass alignment given alternatives were suggested,” he said.
“I don’t think from what I read that I would get consensus from the group on an overall integrated strategy.
“One of the reports that hasn’t been tabled for the group to read is the Horsham Aerodrome Master Plan, and that is going to come out to the public on Monday.”
Cr Grimble said stakeholders raised the potential positive and negative effects on the Horsham economy from the report’s recommendations.
“What it told us is that we have to go out and sources, as part of community engagement, not only businesses but industries as well,” he said.
The full report can be read on the Horsham Council’s website.