Completed upgrade on Federation Way gives the community a boost
Published on 07 June 2017
Works to upgrade sections of Federation Way will be fully completed next week, ahead of time and on budget, providing opportunity for more high-productivity vehicles to use this important freight route.
The $1.65 million road upgrade involved the reconstruction, realignment and widening of 4.5 kilometres of Federation Way between Urana and Morundah and reconstruction of culverts to bring the section of road up to the same standard as adjoining sections.
Removing tight corners, increased signage, line marking centre and edge lines and reducing dust all contribute towards road safety, particularly for heavy vehicles.
Federation Council Administrator Mike Eden congratulated Council staff on completing the project over 12 months in advance of scheduled time.
“The completion of this project is a credit to the wonderful work delivered daily by our staff who are well advanced with preparation for the 2017/18 Capital Works Program,” Mr Eden said.
“At Federation Council we understand through community consultation, the overwhelming community view is that maintenance of sealed and unsealed roads should be a top priority for Council.
“The Draft Delivery Program and Operation Plan currently on public exhibition, proposes to invest unprecedented funding towards Council roads.
“More than 70% of Council’s total capital works budget for 2017/18 will be spent on roads and this will exceed $10M of investment, with a further $3.8M of Stronger Communities Grant funding allocated to roads over the next two financial years.”
Member for Albury Greg Aplin said that he was proud the NSW Government contributed $800,000 to the important Federation Way project through the Restart NSW Fixing Country Roads program and the Federation Council’s work saw this project completed over 12 months in advance of the scheduled timeframe.
“The Fixing Country Roads program provides targeted funding to local councils for road projects that will eliminate connectivity constraints on local roads in NSW and reduce the cost to market for local businesses,” Mr Aplin said.
“Projects such as the Federation Way upgrade create economic benefits for industry, by removing pinch points and reducing constraints on the transport of goods across NSW and interstate.”
Mr Aplin said that the work on Federation Way will provide improved access for grain freight to the GrainCorp Primary Export Site at Oaklands and for livestock to the Urana and Corowa saleyards.
“This project provides benefits for local industry and for the broader community,” Mr Aplin said.
“A more viable freight link will cut extra costs for producers while a safer, smoother road for cars and buses benefits residents.
“I applaud Federation Council for delivering this important community project in an effective and efficient manner.”
The Federation Way upgrade also received $800,000 in funding from the Australian Government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity program and $50,000 from Federation Council.