Road safety upgrades completed early

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Council works on two streets near Waurn Ponds Station have finished ahead of schedule.

The $2.1 million worth of upgrades to Sugargum Drive and Bodega Street between Oakwood Crescent and Rossack Drive in Waurn Ponds, which bean in November last year, were originally slated for completion in June.

Instead the works, which include road pavement rehabilitation, kerb and channel upgrades, reflective pavement markers and line marking upgrades, were finished last week, six weeks ahead of schedule.

Funded by the federal government’s Roads to Recovery program, the upgrades came in response to traffic assessments last year that revealed around 11,000 vehicles used the streets on a weekly basis, with around one sixth of those being heavy vehicles such as trucks.

Federal Member for Corangamite Libby Coker said the upgrades were important to provide safety for our growing region.

“There has been a significant increase in traffic on this road, and the upgrade will go a long way to ensuring infrastructure is now up to the task for those accessing the train station,” Ms Coker said.

“I thank the City of Greater Geelong for working closely with us to ensure the delivery of this project.”

Mayor Trent Sullivan said the government’s Roads to Recovery program was helping the council meet the demand for road upgrades.

“The council invests heavily in maintaining and improving our local roads, but as Geelong continues to grow the assistance of the federal government for projects like this one makes a huge difference,” Mayor Sullivan said.

“With Waurn Ponds station now so heavily used, this project was definitely needed and we are happy it’s now complete.”