The Cox Street Redevelopment Project works will resume on Monday 30 October with MACA replacing subsurface water mains and storm water drainage along Cox Street between Lonsdale and French streets.
Southern Grampians Shire Council CEO Tony Doyle said the community would undoubtedly be very pleased to see the project underway again in a few weeks.
"Council has been extremely frustrated with the lack of progress on this project," said Mr Doyle.
"We have been in close discussions with the contractor who now has a program of works mapped out, with two sub-contractors locked in, until the end of December 2023. We are still reliant on the contractor locking in one sub-contractor to complete the works pre-Christmas and the remaining works post-Christmas however, the contractor is assuring us the project will be complete by the end of April 2024.
"It's now time to look forward and see some real progress happening. We now ask the community and local traders to be patient with us for a few more months," he said.
Traffic in Cox Street will be impacted incrementally for six weeks whilst these works are carried out. The first week of traffic impacts are as follows:
- On Monday 30 October and Tuesday 31 October the intersection of Cox and Sedgewick streets will be completely closed to traffic. Customers can use Permewans Mitre 10 drive-through but can only exit to the right into Cox Street.
- On Wednesday 1 November until Friday 3 November Cox Street will be closed in both directions from Sedgewick Street to Ballarat Road. Customers can use the Permewans Mitre 10 drive-through but can only exit to the left into Cox Street (they will be allowed through the road-block at Sedgewick Street).
Council will endeavour to provide impending road/lane closure updates to the community as soon as they are received by the contractor.
Once the water main and drainage works have been completed, MACA will then begin rebuilding the eastern half of the road in Cox Street early December. This includes demolishing the existing road and carrying out preparatory earthworks.
Mr Doyle said it was crucial that heavy vehicle drivers adhered to signage that prohibits them from using Cox Street.
"Cox Street remains a construction zone and will continue to be a restricted area for heavy vehicles until the project is finished," said Mr Doyle.
"In the interest of public safety and the protection of the work being undertaken, heavy vehicles must use the temporary designated detours until further notice.
"Council has informed the heavy vehicle regulator about the detours, and we have requested that the detours are included on mapping systems used by the industry. Any heavy vehicle not using the alternate route is breaking the law."
The temporary heavy vehicle detours are:
• From Coleraine Road: Mount Baimbridge Road, Portland Road, South Boundary Road, Mt Napier Road, Petschels Lane, Hamilton Highway and Ballarat Road.
• From Glenelg Highway: Hamilton Highway, Petschels Lane, Mt Napier Road, South Boundary Road, Portland Road, Mount Baimbridge Road and Coleraine Road.
• From Hamilton Highway: Petschels Lane, Mt Napier Road, South Boundary Road, Portland Road, Mount Baimbridge Road and Coleraine Road.
Mr Doyle added that council was also going through the quotation process with local contractors to progress the demolition of the old house on Cox Street. Parallel to this, discussions are also underway with members of the community who potentially want to salvage building materials from the house for repurposing.
Jointly funded by Council and the Victorian Government, this project has an overall budget of $4.6 million and will improve the Ballarat Road entry of the CBD by undergrounding existing power lines, installing new Telstra lines (east side only), adding of a new median strip with street lighting and constructing new pavement (east side only), as well as a three-metre-wide footpath.
