Road closed for water works

East West Rd just south of Warragul will be closed to traffic for much of the time until March 2.

Some local traffic will be the only exemptions to the closures while Gippsland Water lays a new pipeline to boost water supplies to Warragul and Drouin.

Sections of East West Rd between Armours Rd and Bona Vista Rd and from WarragulKorumburra Rd to Bona Vista Rd will be closed from 7am to 6pm on Mondays to Saturdays each week.

The closures started last Wednesday and motorists will need to seek alternative routes.

Gippsland Water’s general manager customer and community Paul Clark said the new pipeline was the second stage of a $15million project to interconnect Warragul and Moe’s water supply.

He said it would reduce the likelihood of water restrictions for the growing towns of Warragul Drouin that are now supplied from the Tarago system.

Mr Clark said entitlements from Tarago were restricted because the system also supplies water to Melbourne.

He said the interconnector pipeline, due to become operational about the middle of next year, would allow water to be transferred in either direction between Warragul and Moe making the area more resilient to changes in supply and demand.

The current stage involves laying a new pipeline from Darnum to Gippsland Water’s storage on Warragul-Korumburra Rd.

New booster pumps are being installed at Darnum and a pump station at Trafalgar West.

Mr Clark said property owners directly affected by the road closures had been notified in advance and asked other road users to be patient during the work.