SEVERAL council roads in the Wimmera region will be upgraded, widened and resurfaced after the state government announced the second round of its Local Roads to Market program.
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Minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford visited the notoriously dangerous 1.5 kilometre stretch of the Minyip-Banyena Road in Yarriambaick Shire Council on Friday.
She said the government had allocated $1.3 million to seal and widen roads that serviced Yarriambiack Shire Council.
“There have been 17 roads in this area that have cleaned up in this second round of the Local Roads to Market program,” she said.
“Our funding contribution across the 17 projects will be $5.5 million.
“The total contribution when combined with council’s contribution is in the order of $10 million, so there will be lots of road work activity in the near future.”
Funding of $1.2 million was also allocated for the Yeungroon Road and Birchip-Corack Road projects in Buloke Shire. It is hoped that this will improve access for B-Doubles to grain storage facilities and to transportation hubs.
A further $700,000 was allocated for the Antwerp-Woorak Road and Rainbow-Nhill projects to improve access to markets for heavy vehicles in the Hindmarsh Shire and the broader region.
Finally, $687,000 was allocated in the Northern Grampians Shire for three projects to upgrade bridges and an intersection as well as bridges in the Logan area to support local piggeries and farms.
“The Local Roads to Market program is supporting farming communities throughout the Wimmera Mallee, ensuring their top-quality grain, livestock and vegetable produce makes it to market as quickly and safely as possible,” she said.
“It also gives councils a helping hand with some roads that needed upgrading and we encourage councils to work with local farmers to find out which projects are the priorities.”
Yarriambiack Shire Council Mayor Graeme Massey said the funding was very welcomed by council.
“We really appreciate the government’s commitment to upgrading roads and we can’t do this level of upgrades without the support of the state government,” he said. “We’re very lucky – we’re getting five of our roads done which is terrific.”
Buloke Shire Council Mayor David Pollard said he was grateful for the contribution.
“This will improve the investment into our road network,” he said.
“We’ve got two larger sections of road funded, which are very important for our transport needs, so we can get our produce to and from where it’s got to go.”
