With the announcement of the preferred alignment and release of a community feedback summary report, a new Murray River crossing at Swan Hill is a step closer to being built to serve as a link between New South Wales and Victoria.
Following comprehensive planning investigations and community consultation, the McCallum Street alignment option has been chosen for the new Swan Hill Bridge.
“We are getting critical projects like this in New South Wales, Victoria and indeed across Australia moving along under our record $110 billion infrastructure investment pipeline as part of our Economic Recovery Plan to secure Australia's economic recovery,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said.
Transport for NSW will now begin preliminary design works for the McCallum Street option and the community is going to be consulted again later to get a better understanding of the preferred design option.
“The 124-year-old Swan Hill Bridge is an important bridge for local residents, visitors and the agricultural and freight industries, so it's great both communities have been able to provide feedback to help our governments understand their preference for the future bridge and to help inform further planning,” NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole said.
According to Victorian Minister for Transport Jacinta Allan, a consultation session was held in late 2020 where feedback from the community as well as local government showed a clear preference for the McCallum Street alignment for the new Murray River crossing.
“In response to this feedback, the Victorian and NSW governments have endorsed this alignment as the preferred location for the new bridge,” Minister Allan said.
Once open to traffic, the new bridge will better connect communities, open opportunities for work and provide a link to vital services.
“The new bridge is vital for increased freight lines between southern New South Wales and Northern Victoria, connecting the region to the intermodal at Ultima, allowing better access to markets for an agriculture industry as we grow to $100 billion by 2030.
“The new bridge will also better open up our beautiful region to visitors, allowing us to take advantage of all those holidaying locally,” Federal Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster said.
The Australian Government is continuing to be committed to delivering a better and safer road network for the local cross border community, interstate traffic and travellers.
“The past 12 months really highlighted the need for an updated river crossing, and while it has been an exhaustive process to get to this point, I can't wait to see construction getting underway as soon as possible,” Federal Member for Farrer Sussan Ley said.
For more information on the community feedback summary report, you can check it out on the Transport for NSW website here.
Source: Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development; Transport for NSW (1, 2); Inside Construction