News

Pedestrians and cyclists will soon have a new link along one of Wallan’s busiest streets which will help connect residential areas to the thriving central business district.

Council has released designs for a new shared footpath along Watson Street, running west from Wellington Street to the new housing estate area, as well as a footpath along Dudley Street.

The $1.09 million project has been funded by Mitchell Shire Council ($420,000) and the Victorian Government’s Growing Suburbs Fund ($670,000).

Before the designs are finalised, the community is invited to view the plans and have their say.

Council will be holding two community drop-in sessions next week where people can speak to the engineering team to learn more about the plans and to provide feedback.

Letters have been sent to residents on Watson and Dudley streets who are directly affected by the new footpaths, while an online survey is also available for the community to fill out.

Mitchell Shire Mayor Rhonda Sanderson said fixing footpath missing links was a priority.

“Providing safe spaces for pedestrians to walk and cyclists to ride is vital. We identified that we had more than 100km of footpath missing links across the shire and we have made fixing them a priority in recent years,” Cr Sanderson said.

“These new footpaths will help connect nearby residential areas to the Wallan business district and will encourage people to leave the car in the driveway and get out about and be active around town.

“The works will also complement the wonderful Wallan Town Heart revitalisation, which is nearing completion, and make the High Street shopping precinct a far more connected and vibrant space.”

Further works to improve pedestrian and cyclist connections on Watson Street between High Street and Wellington Street are also planned at a later stage once VicRoads finalises plans for the area.

Community drop-in sessions will be held on Thursday 20 September 2018 at:

• 10-11.30am at Wallan Library (Wellington Street Shopping Centre)

• 5-7pm at Wallan Multipurpose Community Centre (42-80 Bentinck Street)

Construction of the new footpaths is anticipated to begin in early 2019.