Ballarat to Ouyen

Project Description

The Sunraysia Highway is a key north-south route in western Victoria that connects the Western Highway near Ballarat to the Calder Highway near Ouyen. It serves a number of important industries in the region such as agriculture, viticulture, food processing and winemaking, linking these industries to markets and ports in the south of Victoria and South Australia via corridors such as the Henty and Calder Highways.

 The Tranche 1 of works includes: 

• Ballarat to Ouyen - Birchip-Rainbow Road - McLoughlans Road Intersection Upgrade - The Australian Government is committing $2.3 million towards the upgrade of the intersection of the Sunraysia Highway with Birchip-Rainbow Road and McLoughlans Road, Birchip.

• Ballarat to Ouyen - Scoping and Development - The Australian Government is committing $1.9 million to undertake scoping work to develop a prioritised program of future projects along the Sunraysia Highway corridor.

Benefits

These upgrades are expected to improve access for high productivity freight vehicles, leading to an overall increase in the efficiency of the corridor. Upgrades to this corridor are expected to support local industry and the creation of local jobs. It is also expected to increase safety for all road users.

Funding

The Australian Government is contributing $55 million towards this $68.75 million project.

This includes an additional $45 million towards the corridor in the 2022-23 Budget. 

The remaining $50.8 million in Australian Government funding will be allocated to future priorities along the corridor. 

Timetable

Scoping and development works for projects along the corridor commenced in mid-2021. Tranche 1 construction works are expected to commence in early 2022 and to be completed by mid 2022.