October 26, 2012
Federal Member for Gippsland and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport Darren Chester has welcomed the opening of Cox’s Bridge which will reduce the impact of flooding on traffic between Sale and Longford.
The $57 million project has seen the bridge located on the South Gippsland Highway raised to 1-in-100 year flood level.
The section of highway has also been raised by 1.5 metres to 1-in-20 year flood level.
Mr Chester said the upgrade was a significant boost for the Longford, Loch Sport, Seaspray, Golden Beach and Yarram communities which have previously diverted towards Rosedale when flooding has occurred in order to get to Sale.
“Flooding has caused significant headaches for local residents who travel to Sale on a regular basis,” Mr Chester said.
“By upgrading the road to cope with everything up to a 1-in-20 year flood and the bridge to 1-in-100 year flood, access to Sale will be improved meaning residents can have peace of mind that they will be able to get to work or drop their children off at school on time.
“All credit must go to Deputy Premier Peter Ryan who has worked for 20 years to achieve significant upgrades on this stretch of highway.”
Mr Chester said the Longford Gas Plant would also benefit from the upgrade.
“The upgrade will reduce the impact of flooding on operations at the Longford Gas Plant with employees from Sale, Maffra and Stratford now also having greater access during flooding activity,” Mr Chester said.
“This reduces potential interruptions to operations at the site which have been caused in the past by road closures as a result of flooding.”