Alpine Shire's mayor says it is a "fantastic outcome" to soon have both lanes of the Bogong High Plains Road open to traffic, more than 18 months after a landslide closed them.
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John Forsyth was responding to the Victorian Roads Minister Melissa Horne announcing that two-lane traffic from Mount Beauty to the Falls Creek resort was expected to resume at the end of May.
Since then Major Road Projects Victoria and East Gippsland contractor Whelans Group have continued to remove rubble and vegetation, with helicopters brought in to extract some trees.
"The enormity of this landslip cannot be underestimated," Ms Horne told ABC Goulburn Murray radio.
"We have never seen anything quite like this in Victoria and what the project team has done over those last 18 months is excavated and safely removed 600,000 tonnes of material from the slope."
Ms Horne estimated the road would be fully opened ahead of the June long weekend which marks the start of the ski season.
"What we're saying is the end of late May, because you can never predict the weather and some of the vagaries that might occur with that but certainly late May is when I'm advised those two lanes will be re-opened ahead of that busy snow season and let's hope it's a bumper for those communities," she said.
Cr Fosyth told The Border Mail he was thrilled by news of a completion date.
"I think it's a fantastic outcome, they've worked so hard at it, they've thrown everything they can at it," Cr Forsyth said.
"It means they can take down all of those big ugly signs leading to Mount Beauty which were putting people off going because they were saying the road is open, which lead to people thinking what is wrong."
Mount Beauty Chamber of Commerce president Gerardo Altman was delighted to have a full restoration date.
"Amazing, it sounds very positive and we're hoping it will be better than what it was before because there's a lot of work that has been done up there," Mr Altman said.
"It's going to be a lot safer and allow for a lot better traffic flow."
Mr Altman said there had been a reduction in through travel to Falls Creek last ski season, but he did not attribute that to the restricted road access.
"I don't think there's a decrease because of the landslip, I think the decrease is the inflation," he said.
"The prices are overinflated, it's the most expensive resort in Australia and that's a completely different issue."
Mr Altman cited high daily ski costs and resort owner Vail's decision to abandon a pass for North East and Albury residents as contributors to less visitors to the mountain.
