The long-awaited Traralgon bypass is one step closer to becoming a reality following the finalisation of a VicRoads community engagement process.
It comes after the Committee for Gippsland reinvigorated the bypass campaign early last year and the state government committed $1.4 million to develop a business case for the project in August.
VicRoads manager planning eastern region Pas Monacella said VicRoads had seen a “huge and broadly supportive” response from the community so far.
“We’re looking forward to reporting results of this engagement back to locals soon,” he said.
Feedback included comments indicating concerns about the effect of the bypass on local businesses and VicRoads said it would work with business to keep them well-informed throughout the planning process.
Other feedback from the community included planning suggestions, such as a number of lanes, planned route, noise, freight efficiency and travel time savings.
VicRoads sought community feedback between December and late February, including the bypass route, interchange locations and the existing Princes Highway in the Traralgon and wider Traralgon road network, reaching about 88,000 people.
VicRoads hosted a number of community drop-in sessions with about 200 in attendance and received 62 written feedback forms.
Latrobe City Council said it would request the minister for planning to review the bypass route plans through the VicRoads community consultation process, as council was of the view that the proposed route removed about 508 hectares from a future urban growth corridor.
Latrobe City Council chief executive Gary Van Driel said prioritising the state’s resource over the future growth of the community was a position council couldn’t support.
“At the council meeting of the 5 March 2018, council resolved to confirm to VicRoads during the community consultation process that council’s preferred Traralgon freeway bypass options are W4B and E3D and requested that the Minister for Planning review the decision that supports the current proposed routes W1C and E2D,” he said.
“Although we’ve had a great result with the removal of the coal overlay on some important parcels of land, this shows that there is still much work to do in this area.”
VicRoads’ full engagement report will be released to the community in the coming months, however, the current engagement summary can be found at engage.vicroads.vic.gov.au/accessible/news_feed/traralgon-bypass-planning-project.
