ARTC’s Inland Rail team will be returning to the Broadford and Wandong communities in Victoria this month to provide updates and solicit feedback regarding works that will take place along the north-east rail corridor to support the running of double-stacked freight trains.
There are sixty-three sites in Victoria where Inland Rail will need to make room for the taller trains, which will use the direct rail link being built between Melbourne and Brisbane, by either lowering the track, making changes to an existing structure or replacing that structure.
Four bridges in the Broadford and Wandong area will be affected by the works: the Broadford-Wandong Road bridge, the Hamilton Street Bridge, the Short Street bridge and the Marchbanks Road bridge.
Inland Rail teams previously met with community members in consultation sessions during June and July, presenting early designs.
Inland Rail’s Victorian stakeholder engagement manager, Lauren McKenzie, said that investigations and testing had been done since then.
“Currently, replacing the Hamilton Street, Marchbanks Road and Broadford-Wandong Road bridges is our preferred option. Lowering the track at Short Street is the preferred option there,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie said that the community would be presented with the plans and their questions and concerns addressed.
“We’re also keen to share how that early feedback has influenced our design development, particularly around pedestrian and cycling access,” she said.
“There is still work to be done to find the best solution for delivering these works, but we are conscious that maintaining access during construction, which is not due to start until 2020, is important to the community.”
The project will be hosting two community sessions. The first is this Saturday 10 November at the Wandong Public Hall and then on Thursday 15 November at the Broadford Golf Club.