Money assured to complete project

The Federal Government has confirmed $360-million in funding to complete a Ballarat to Stawell dual-carriageway development project on the Western Highway.

A dual carriageway or twin-lane duplication is in place on the highway from Melbourne to Buangor.

Community leaders across the region have been lobbying for assurances that government leaders would step in to finish the project, which has been the subject of delays and uncertainty.

The dual-carriageway reverts to a single carriageway highway southeast of Ararat, which continues to South Australia.

It then joins the Dukes Highway, which reverts back to a dual carriageway leading into Adelaide.

Neither federal or state governments have announced formal plans to complete the dual-carriageway ‘gap’ between Stawell and South Australia, the region’s historic travelling ‘fatigue zone’.

Government and Coalition representatives spoke strongly about the benefits of completing the Ballarat-stawell project.

Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Minister Michael Mccormack said completing the duplication would boost capacity, drive freight efficiencies to lower business costs and improve safety.

“This is great news for the mix of regional communities and industries who rely on the Western Highway to link to major agriculture including grain, timber, horticulture and livestock production areas of western Victoria and

South Australia to Melbourne, Adelaide and the associated export market,” he said.

Federal Member for Wannon Dan Tehan added the highway was one of the busiest freight routes in Australia.

“More than 6000 vehicles travel the Western Highway west of Ballarat each day, including 1500 trucks – and the expected doubling of those traffic figures by 2025 makes the completion of the upgrade absolutely vital,” he said.

Hundreds of jobs

Nationals Candidate for Mallee Anne Webster said the project would support hundreds of jobs during construction.

“As well as improving safety and easing congestion, the Federal Liberal and Nationals Government has a proud record of delivery of job-creating investment in infrastructure, including critical regional projects such as this,” she said.

Liberal candidate for Mallee Serge Petrovich said the expectation was that highway construction between Ballarat and Ararat would be finished by the middle of next year.

“This builds on the government’s commitment of $499.4-million to the staged duplication and also complements investments across the length of the Western Highway corridor,” he said.

“This includes $50-million towards preconstruction works for future bypasses of Beaufort and Ararat to ensure this important corridor is able to support the growing freight task and communities that rely on it every day.”

A federal and state government partnership will finalise joint funding arrangements and a delivery timeframe for the Stawell section of the project.