ALMOST six years to the day when an XPT passenger train nearly collided with a B-Double truck, the final domino has fallen in the marathon battle to secure funding to fix the potential death-trap north of Henty.
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Miraculously no one was killed in the late January 2013 incident which became the catalyst for a long awaited string of safety and amenity improvements.
The NSW Government will contribute $3.1 million to the project with the federal government previously committing $3.6 million in addition to the $500,000 already earmarked by Greater Hume Shire.
Major components of the works will be a new railway crossing, re-alignment of about 1km of the Olympic Highway, construction of a new intersection between Grubben Road, Orange Flat Lane and the railway crossing and closing the existing Williams Crossing railway crossing where the near miss between the train and truck took place.
Major beneficiaries of the works will be the Henty township with large trucks no longer needing to travel in town and GrainCorp which can go ahead with a $4 million investment into its receival site located on Grubben Road.
Mayor Heather Wilton said the project had been a high priority for the council.
“We had to do something,” she said.
“We couldn’t just put the report we received in the bottom draw and hope it wouldn’t happen again.
“We have knocked on many doors to raise this issue.”
She said the council had endured four rejections in the pursuit of funding for the project.
GrainCorp’s general manager of operations Nigel Lotz said its Henty West facility was a vital part of the region’s grain export supply chain.
“Over the past couple of years, we’ve already spent nearly $1.3 million in rail and site upgrades to provide a modern and efficient site for local growers,” he said.
“The new direct access to the site will make the site more efficient by reducing road freight costs for growers, which will put more money directly into their pockets.
“It will also have flow-on benefits for the broader community, as it will substantially reduce the number of trucks travelling through town.
“The new rail crossing will unlock future investment into rail loading facilities at Henty West which will provide even further supply chain efficiency and cost savings for growers.”
Member for Albury Greg Aplin Mr Aplin said the new crossing at Grubben Road would have signals and boom gates and the Olympic Highway re-alignment would let B-triples safely pass over railway tracks.
"Taking trucks off local streets will improve pedestrian safety in Henty,” he said.
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