Leongatha CBD closer to being truck-free
Leongatha Chamber of Commerce president, Darryl McGannon is ecstatic that the bypass is one step closer.
THE redevelopment of Leongatha’s central business district has been boosted by news the State Government will fund the design of an alternate heavy vehicle route.
Deputy Premier and Gippsland South MLA Peter Ryan announced $270,000 for a detailed planning study yesterday (Monday).
The Leongatha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with South Gippsland Shire Council and the community, have been calling for an alternate route to take trucks and other heavy vehicles out of Bair Street.
That move would make the street safer, permit commercial development and allow for better car parking.
The route could be two years away, with VicRoads saying such planning would take at least two years.
The funding will totally cover the project.
Mr Ryan said South Gippsland Shire Council and the community had called for the route for years.
“It is a great step forward to now see it delivered. It is estimated that up to 1000 heavy vehicles pass through the Leongatha shopping strip along the South Gippsland Highway each day.
“The $270,000 in funding will go towards planning for a future alternate truck route that will redirect heavy vehicles away from the town centre, and provide planning certainty for further development within Leongatha.”
Mr Ryan said the comprehensive planning study would look at route options and planning provisions to support the project.
“This important study will look at preferred options for the alternative truck route and subsequent intersection upgrades and requirements,” he said.
“The study will include survey work, specialist investigations, the development of concept designs, community consultation and cost estimates.
“In addition, it will consider the need for a Planning Scheme Amendment to add a Public Acquisition Overlay to the South Gippsland Planning Scheme to protect the preferred alignment.”
Hughes and Long streets are possible routes.
Leongatha Chamber of Commerce president Darryl McGannon welcomed the announcement.
“It is good news that they’ve allocated funding for the study. It’s the first step in a long process but it is only the first step,” he said.
“We’ve certainly been pushing for a long while and we just need to keep pushing on now.”
South Gippsland Shire Council mayor Cr Warren Raabe said the news was “great”.
“It’s just the study phase and we don’t want people to get confused with the design phase versus the construction phase,” he said.
“We were confident that money would come eventually, but it gets the ball rolling and you can’t build anything until it’s fully designed.
“It means we can now look at freeing up more car parking spots and just the whole town planning side of thing changes now that this is occurring.”
VicRoads regional director Patricia Liew last week, said VicRoads had considered the possible route through Hughes and Long streets in long term planning for the South Gippsland Highway.
The need for a route was identified in a traffic management study undertaken by South Gippsland Shire Council in 2008.
“If funded, the planning process would take up to two years to complete as it would include a planning scheme amendment to reserve the land for the route.”
The comprehensive VicRoads planning study would commence early in 2012.
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