A SIGH of relief has been breathed when it comes to road work in the shire.
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Leeton Shire Council is set to receive a Christmas bonus from the federal government to the tune of almost $1 million under the Roads to Recovery program.
Each year council is given a certain amount of funding under the initiative, with Member for Farrer Sussan Ley recently announcing it would receive $939,601 to complete a number of projects.
Council’s manager of design and construction Chris Lashbrook said the funding was more important than most knew.
“If we didn’t receive Roads to Recovery funding from the government, many of our projects wouldn’t go ahead,” he said.
“It’s very important we continue to receive this money.
“It allows us to complete a number of projects we wouldn’t be able to fund otherwise.”
The money set aside for Leeton has already been allocated and used on some projects.
Council has so far completed the rehabilitation and widening of a section of McNeil Road – Stony Point to Massey Road.
To the relief of many, it has also finished the rehabilitation and widening of Innisvale Lane – Euroley Road to Sturt Highway.
Additional shoulder works and repairs from flood recovery funding were also ticked off.
“That’s been a big one for us and the residents who live out there,” Mr Lashbrook said.
“It’s like driving on a highway out there now.
“I’m sure people can see the improvement.”
Other work to get underway thanks to the funding will involve kerbing, guttering and drainage upgrades from Woolworths on Palm Avenue along to the Cassia Road roundabout.
A similar upgrade will occur from Dooley Lane to Muntenpen Street.
“It should fix a lot of the drainage issues we have in those areas,” Mr Lashbrook said.
Some of that work will get started before the Christmas and New Year break, with the remainder to be finished within the first quarter of 2018.
The government is dolling out $26 million across the Farrer electorate to help fix, build and maintain country roads.
Around 140 projects have been given the green light as a result.