A range of road projects have commenced in Victoria’s south-west as part of a $40 million upgrade program to improve safety across the state’s Green Triangle.
The program of works on Portland Ring Road, Henty Highway, Portland-Nelson Road and Portland Casterton Road is aimed at improving safety and access to the Port of Portland as well as safety and productivity for drivers, particularly for heavy vehicles.
“An extensive program of major rehabilitation and resurfacing is now underway, to ensure roads in the region are safe and able to handle high volumes of heavy vehicles serving the Port of Portland,” said Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester in a statement.
“These roads are an essential part of the local economy because heavy vehicles rely on them to get to the Port of Portland everyday – the largest hardwood chip exporter in the world.”
Works commenced this week to fix and resurface 31 kilometres of the Portland Casterton Road, which will be completed by the end of May.
Work on the Portland Ring Road near the Port of Portland will also be finished this week and the complete rehabilitation and resurfacing of 500 metres of the Ring Road, including the Wilson Street/Nelson Street intersection will be completed by Easter.
The ongoing works to repair 3.4 kilometres of the Henty/Princes Highway near Bolwarra is also set to be completed in April.
“Thirty per cent of the traffic on the Portland Ring Road is heavy vehicles, these repairs will improve safety for everyone and make sure cars and trucks can get where they need to be, safely and on time,” said Member for Western Victoria Gayle Tierney.
“We’re putting the south west first by fixing these roads and making sure we support the local economy to keep delivering for Victoria.”
The Australian and Victorian governments are each contributing $20 million to the jointly funded project.
Construction will take place over the next three years, with an anticipated completion date of 2021.