Farmers and transport companies will have B-double truck access to about 2000 extra kilometres of rural roads across the Swan Hill municipality.
Mayor Les McPhee said the change, approved at council’s ordinary meeting on Tuesday, would make a difference to local fruit and vegetable growers, grain producers and transport companies.
“Only 560km, or 16 per cent, of our roads had been gazetted for B-double access and operators had to apply to use other roads as needed,” Cr McPhee said.
“However, this process was proving frustrating for operators, with a wait of up to five days.
“Some truck drivers were taking the risk of driving on roads without a permit, to save time.”
Now, operators will have permanent B-double access to about 2500km (or 67 per cent) of roads in the municipality.
“This has been a commonsense change that will benefit transport companies, support local farming businesses and will ultimately have a positive flow-on effect for our economy,” Cr McPhee said.
To read more of this story, grab a copy of Monday’s Guardian (March 27).
