State MPs welcome interchange project

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Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes and Member for Yan Yean Danielle Green, front from left, with Mitchell Shire councillors Rhonda Sanderson and Bob Cornish. Back, from left is Mitchell Shire councillors Rob Eldridge, Bill Chisholm and David Lowe.

State MPs have welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of a $50 million upgrade to the Hume Freeway-Watson Street interchange in Wallan.

Member for Yan Yean Danielle Green and Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes secured $3.8 million in State Government funding to plan the project in 2017.

The MPs said the new interchange would significantly reduce traffic congestion, improve travel times and make it safe for drivers to access Wallan during peak periods.

“As a growing community, this project is vital to Wallan as it enhances the town, creates jobs and ensures the community has the roadwork it needs to reduce road congestion,” Ms Symes said.

“These upgrades will improve access to the developing residential areas of Wallan East, the train station as well as providing easier connection to the Hume Freeway,” Ms Green said.

The MPs said they, along with Mitchell Shire Council, had been lobbying the Federal Government for the past three years to fund the freeway upgrade given its status as a road of national importance.

Ms Green and Ms Symes said the funding now enabled the State Government to focus on other investments to bring jobs to Wallan.

“The Victorian Government’s regional payroll tax is the lowest in the country, this fact and the completion of the interchange now make Mitchell Shire a very attractive place for freight and logistics companies to establish,” Ms Green said.

Ms Green and Ms Symes congratulated Mitchell Shire councillors and staff for their advocacy work on the Watson Street-Hume Freeway interchange.

They said they looked forward to working with the Federal Government on other important infrastructure projects in Mitchell Shire, including the Gunns Gully Road interchange between Kalkallo and Beveridge.