Praise for roads plan

By Paul Dunlop
CARDINIA Shire Council’s bid to curb further deterioration of its road network has again been praised as an innovative example for other municipalities around Australia.
The Connecting Cardinia 50 kilometre road project was last week lauded by councillors who said that the plan had attracted nationwide interest.
Their pride in the project follows similar endorsements from the Municipal Association of Victoria.
A progress report to council’s 17 October meeting said the $17 million project was nearing completion.
Cr Doug Hamilton raised the report as an emphatic response to critics of the council’s work on roads.
The Westernport Ward councillor said Cardinia Shire had been praised throughout Australia for its initiative.
“There is no question that that program is going ahead and it is muchvaunted for a very good reason,” Cr Hamilton said.
“Connecting Cardinia — we should be very proud of it.”
Cr Helen Ward said it was a case study for others to follow.
General manager of assets and development services Michael Ellis said 75 per cent of the roads included in Connecting Cardinia were 100 per cent complete. Mr Ellis said the project had been a resounding success.
“It has run ahead of schedule, the costs have been very competitive and there has been a lot of interest by the Local Government industry who have been holding it up as a model case for local road construction,” Mr Ellis said.
Launched in mid2004, council’s plan was to build 50km of the shire’s most critical arterial roads.
As the shire’s population increases, its unsealed road network has been said to be under greater demand than ever before.
The arterial roads chosen for the project were said by the council to have been prioritised according to their function in linking main roads and communities, safety problems, the volume of truck traffic and whether they were designated bus routes.