Ring Road, which services our major industrial precinct, has McCains abutting the road directly and therefore it is a major economic pathway through Ballarat. This therefore identified Ring Road as one which would clearly meet the criteria developed by Regional Roads Victoria for funding under this program.
In relation to Gillies Road, the City of Ballarat was fortunate to gain a $1 million contribution from the Regional Roads Victoria fund for the Gillies Rd/Kennedy Rd roundabout in the earlier round of this funding. It was therefore a very logical choice to complete this section of what is a local road that performs an almost artieral role in connecting Ballarat to the north.
In both instances, Council is a co-funder to these projects, including $800,000 for Gillies Road and $400,000 for Ring Road.
Council is pursuing funding for the reconstruction of Cuthberts Road to the west of the city through the Roads to Recovery program at the federal level, and continues to invest across the whole network as part of Council’s ongoing capital works commitments.
The Regional Roads project for Ballarat, known as Keeping Ballarat Moving, which was an election commitment for five major intersection treatments across Ballarat, is anticipated to be funded, at least in the first stage, through the May state budget, with Council looking forward to working with VicRoads in managing the delivery accordingly.
At this point, no funding commitments have been made to the second stage of Ballarat Link Road.