Ararat Rural City Council Mayor, Jo Armstrong says local farmers will be the key winners from the reconstruction of Darlington Carranballac Road, which is now underway.
Cr Armstrong visited the site last week to view the pulverising of the old road base, saying the new road would help farmers get their products to market.
“Darlington Carranballac Road is one of the many roads in the Ararat Rural City, which are used as important linkage roads for farmers to receive inputs and get produce to market,” Cr Armstrong said.
The $558,000 upgrade has been funded through the Australian Government’s Roads to Recovery Program, delivering a complete reconstruction and installation of table drainage for a 1.2km section of road to the north of Pura Pura. Existing culvert crossings will also be replaced as part of the project.
“First and last mile freight routes are vital to support our local agriculture industry which rely on them every day to move large volumes of freight,” said Cr Armstrong.
“The funding from the Australian Government is critical in allowing Council to create better connections for locals and industry, as well as providing important economic opportunities for our region.”
She said the condition of the existing road surface has been a point of frustration for many locals and truck drivers.
“he existing road was only about five metres wide and has deteriorated from years of heavy vehicles using the road through the harvest season.”
Ararat Rural City Council CEO, Dr Tim Harrison extended his thanks to those impacted for their patience.
“The redeveloped road will be over a metre wider than before and have a deeper road base. This will allow for easier two-way traffic and cope with the pressures caused by heavy vehicle traffic through the harvest season,” Dr Harrison said.
Construction is expected to be completed in the coming months.
“Local road users are eager to have the reconstruction completed have been very welcoming to our construction team,” he said.
“Ararat Rural City Council would like the thank the locals of Pura Pura and all of those who rely on the road for their patience while the project is being completed.”
