$3.5m for bridge and roads in Wangaratta

The money was announced by the Federal Government in June following changes to the fuel excise.

Administrators voted at Friday’s special council meeting to use the money to complete a long-planned project that would aim to reduce the traffic in Wangaratta’s central business district.

Cruse Street in the city’s west, near Wangaratta Racecourse, will be extended to new estates around Reith Road and include a new bridge over Three Mile Creek.

Infrastructure services director Alan Clarke said it is not everyday that much extra money is handed to the council, so officers wanted to plan for the future.

He said the road extension would “allow growth areas as they develop in that area to bring some of that traffic across the creeks within our area via a different route, easing that traffic flow into the CBD”.

The council will spend $200,000 in 2015/16 to design the “Cruse Street Extension Project”.

Construction will cost $2.6 million and be completed by the end of the 2016/17 financial year.

The remaining $769,000 will go to existing projects.

Administrator Irene Grant said the strategic work done on the road extension plan was exciting.

“It’s going to allow a lot freer movements of traffic and is certainly something that’s been identified as an issue,” she said.

Chief administrator Ailsa Fox also passed on the council’s condolences to the loved ones of 11-year-old Zoe Buttigieg, who was allegedly raped and murdered in her Inchbold Street home on Sunday.

“The horrible act of violence hat was committed against a child in our community is being felt by many,” she said.

“Sadly this time is also a reminder of the need for us all to continue to address the issue of violence in our communities.

“We know that our community deserves for everyone to feel safe.”