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THE state government will spend $3.5 million to upgrade “capacity and safety” on the McIvor Highway in Junortoun as part of a $941 million package for Victoria’s regional roads. A further $19 million will be spent on the Calder Highway between Bendigo and Mildura, and will likely focus on rural sections rather than closer to Bendigo. The funding is separate from a state government plan to upgrade the Calder between Ironbark and Maiden Gully, announced last year. Bendigo-Redesdale Road will receive a $3.5 million upgrade to improve safety. The upgrades on the McIvor Highway will focus on the section between Harley Street and Bennetts Road. The Midland Highway through Castlemaine will receive $950,000 in upgrades. Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards discussed the plans in Marong on Thursday, but a Marong bypass was not included in the funding announcement. Numerous trucks queued at the intersection of the Calder Alternate and Calder Highway in Marong during the announcement. Ms Edwards said the bypass was something that could come up in the future. “The City of Greater Bendigo obviously in their transport strategy have this as a priority, and it’s something that we are certainly looking at,” she said. “But at the moment our priority is to plan for this section of road between Ironbark and Maiden Gully.” The state government will also establish a new body to oversee Victoria’s regional roads, announced on Thursday. Regional Roads Victoria – a new division of VicRoads – will be based at Ballarat with regional centres across the state. It will deliver $333 million in road maintenance funding to more than 1000 kilometres of regional roads. The 2018/19 budget will include a total of $941 million for regional road projects. It includes a $100 million Fixing Country Roads fund to provide grants to local councils. A 2017 Auditor General’s report found that maintenance expenditure was not enough to stop the condition of regional roads from declining. The RACV backed the state government’s regional roads plan. Manager of mobility and advocacy Dave Jones said Regional Roads Victoria should ensure transparency in roads funding. “It is pleasing to see that the Government has listened to RACV, and is establishing a new division – Regional Roads Victoria – to oversee regional road maintenance and construction,” he said. “This is an important step towards greater transparency about Victoria’s roads, along with being more open with their road condition data and adopting star ratings for road safety.”

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