The Australian Rail Track Corporation wants to go against the wishes of Wangaratta Council and knock down two historic bridges at the railway station to accommodation taller trains as part of the new inland rail.
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But a report to go before councillors at a special meeting called for Tuesday night states the ARTC wants to push ahead with removing the bridges.
“Key parts of the ARTC’s preferred solution is to … replace the existing Cusack and Docker Street footbridges with a more centrally located cross-corridor pedestrian/cycle connection,” the report stated.
Alternatives such as lowering the track at Wangaratta or the council’s other preferred move of installing an underpass instead were considered, but “are not the ARTC’s preferred solutions”.
Other plans for Wangaratta – to lower the track under the Green Street overpass and shift the tracks to the western side of the railway station – were supported.
But the ARTC also disappointed the council with its plans for Glenrowan, where it has proposed lowering the track under Beaconsfield Parade.
The council wanted to remove the existing bridge and construct a new bridge in an another location.
There is still time for negotiation, with the ARTC plans described as a “70 per cent design”.
Wangaratta was not scheduled to have a meeting in January, which is traditionally quiet, but have been called together early to deal with the issue.
Officers have recommended that councillors ask the ARTC to “continue to engage in meaningful consultation with the community”, plus request an underpass for Wangaratta Railway Station and a new bridge at Glenrowan.
Councillors at Tuesday’s meeting will also award a tender for the pool development estimated to be worth at least $16 million.
It has been funded by $4.4 million from the federal government, $1.5 million from the Victorian government, $100,000 from the Wangaratta Amateur Swim Club, and $6 million from a state government low-interest loan.
Officers have recommended the tender be awarded to construction company Browns Wangaratta.
The special meeting will be held at the Wangaratta Council chambers on Tuesday from 6pm.
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