A NEAR miss between the XPT passenger train and a stationary B-Double truck near Henty has been the catalyst for a major funding bid by Greater Hume Shire.
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A bid to relocate the railway crossing on a small section of road between the Olympic Highway and Grubben Road further north is underway with council to consider taking out a $500,000 loan next week as its contribution to a suite of funding applications for the project estimated to cost $7.2 million.
The council will also be asked at its monthly meeting to tick off on a further $45,000 to pay for consultants to build the business case for the project.
Greater Hume general manager Steve Pinnuck said the close shave between the XPT and B-Double truck took place in January 2013.
"The XPT was coming through and the train driver of the XPT was certain he was going to collide with the back of the B-Double," he said.
"It must have missed by only inches.
"It's a long shot, but we've got to give this our best shot."
The road connecting Grubben Road and Olympic Highway across the railway line is less than 100 metres long and is also the responsibility of the shire.
The proposed replacement crossing will also require the Olympic Highway to be re-aligned slightly to the east for about 1.2km.
Grubben Road leads to the Henty West Graincorp receival site.
NSW Roads and Maritime Services has already spent about $300,000 bringing the project to detailed design stage.
"To their credit they've done all the preliminary work to get to grant application stage," Mr Pinnuck said.
Greater Hume Shire is going to target the federal government's Building Better Regions funding round, two state government funding rounds and the heavy vehicle safety and productivity program.
The federal cash application closes late February.
The $500,000 loan will push total council borrowings to $600,000 by June 30 this year.
The cost to hire consultants, Morrison Low, will be funded out of council's works warranty reserve.