The push for a three-lane Princes Highway from Colac to the South Australian border is gaining traction with government.
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While visiting the south-west this week, Victorian Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said a 2+1 configuration was among the options that would be considered for the highway west of Colac.
“That’s obviously something we would be talking to the federal government on but we’re always happy to look at further upgrades to the Princes Highway, it’s a major freight route through this whole region,” he said.
Championed by Corangamite Shire councillor Chris O’Connor, the 2+1 configuration involves two lanes in one direction and one lane in the opposite direction. The configuration is altered every few kilometres to allow regular overtaking opportunities.
Cr O’Connor said a 2+1 upgrade was now “certainly on the agenda”.
“They have come to the conclusion that it’s probably the best fix for the Princes Highway,” he said.
Cr O’Connor said it was more realistic for the region to lobby for a three-lane upgrade, rather than a four-lane highway that has already been completed between Geelong and Winchelsea and will be extended to Colac.
“It brings the cost down to a quarter or a third (of a 2+2 highway),” Cr O’Connor said.
He said some sections, such as between Warrnambool and Port Fairy, would still suit a dual carriageway configuration.
Western Victoria MP James Purcell said if the Princes Highway’s classification was changed then a 2+1 upgrade could get under way within the next two years.
“Our next move is to get the Princes Highway changed to a road of national significance. We’ve spoken to the state government and also the federal government and we talked to the Premier and the Treasurer last week, and we believe... we’ve got a real chance of getting it changed,” he said.
Mr Purcell said a road of national significance attracted 80 per cent of road maintenance and upgrade funding from the federal government.
“If we can get it changed to a road of national significance we’d be confident of getting that two-plus-one work under way within the next couple of years. That’s going to be our big project from now on.”
VicRoads has already backed the three-lane concept for sections of the highway west of Colac.
In January regional director Mark Koliba said VicRoads was “supportive of it being a longer term treatment for the highway in the future”, although no money has been set aside to take the concept further.
Mr Donnellan said discussions with the federal government were ongoing.
“In the same way we’ve done work on the Princes Highway east with the federal government, we would expect to continue doing work on Princes Highway west. They’re obviously discussions we’d have with them (the federal government),” he said.
“We’re currently having discussions about re-purposing the $1.5 billion that the federal government had set aside for East-West. In other words, we’re having discussions on agreeing where we would spend that money.”
Mr Donnellan said the state government was also pushing for a larger slice of the federal government’s road and infrastructure spending to better reflect Victoria’s contribution to the national economy.