Work is due to start within months on a $10 million safety upgrade of the Hyland Highway between Traralgon and Yarram.
The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the highway upgrade would improve safety for locals commuting from Yarram to Traralgon and enhance transport efficiency for local producers.
Mr Chester, who is also the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, said tenders would close this week for roadside safety improvement works and the installation of safety barriers along the highway between Gormandale and Carrajung-Woodside Road.
Work is expected to start in early 2018.
“The Hyland Highway is an important tourism and freight route,” Mr Chester said.
“VicRoads has engaged in extensive consultation with stakeholders and the community to target the $10 million into priority areas.”
The proposed works program includes redesigning intersections, widening lanes, installing safety barriers, and constructing slow vehicle pullover areas.
“The safety of intersections, particularly at Flynns Creek Road, Carrajung-Woodside Road, Gormandale-Stradbroke Road and Grand Ridge Road intersections, was a key community concern,” Mr Chester said.
Mr Chester said improving the Hyland Highway would make Yarram and the South Gippsland region more attractive to tourists, providing a safer link from the Latrobe Valley.
The Federal and State Governments are jointly funding the $10 million Hyland Highway upgrade. The project funding is to be spent on improvement works, not routine maintenance.
The highway upgrade project is part of a record $130 million funding haul announced by both governments for key freight and tourism routes across Gippsland.
