Councillor Les Power: The pedestrian bridge debate

Published on 04 March 2021

It’s a great time of the year in the Wimmera and it is good to see a gradual increase in travellers coming to the Horsham area to experience the things we have to offer. 

There are wonderful places to see such as Laharum, the Little Desert, Wartook, Zumsteins and Mount Arapiles. So it’s good to remind ourselves that we are lucky to live here in this part of the world.

But we also have to keep one eye on the future, and plan to create a regional city that is a great place to live as well as visit.  

At Monday’s Council Meeting, our Councillor group debated whether to continue to plan for a second pedestrian bridge across the Wimmera River.

The bridge has been proposed for construction at the end of Hamilton Street. This will join the walking track connecting the Waterlink Estate on the eastern side of the river where about 2000 residents can easily access the city and the hospital as well as the four schools on the western side of the river.

Easing congestion on Williams Road is one of the many additional benefits that comes to mind. Also - encouraging exercise is something that our kids will benefit from right now and in the decades to come.

Many community members have expressed that they would like to see another vehicle bridge in Horsham.

It’s great to see our local residents taking an interest in the long term future of Horsham and district and well done for speaking up.

But let me assure you Council is keen to see a second vehicle bridge, and we committed $100,000 in this year's budget to facilitate the planning of this in conjunction with Regional Roads Victoria, as part of an alternative truck route.

More information on how this is progressing will hopefully be available soon.

The location for a truck route and bridge would be determined during this planning work. But, everyone would agree that it would not be suitable in the vicinity of schools and a residential area.

So why not just get on with building a second road bridge somewhere else?

Constructing a second river crossing that can accommodate large vehicles as part of an alternative truck will be much more costly and require a great deal more long-term planning.

We want a second vehicle bridge – as Councillors we have already backed that proposal. But it can’t happen overnight.

On the other hand, another pedestrian bridge would cost $2 million or less, and Council has the option of using a combination of State and Commonwealth Government funding to pay for it, meaning it is not a burden on rate payers.

It is very important that our Council attracts our share of funding that is on offer from higher levels of government.

So that’s why, at the moment, the option of a new pedestrian only bridge is being advanced.

If, in the next few years we have a new pedestrian bridge linking one of busiest residential areas to central Horsham, it won’t affect our chances of getting a second vehicle crossing and reducing the number of trucks in the city.