Ballarat City Council is ramping up its lobbying efforts to land cash for stage two of the Ballarat Link Road ahead of the upcoming state and federal budgets.
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The 4.8-kilometre first stage which connects the Western Freeway to Remembrance Drive was officially unveiled on Monday by a small army of politicians, state candidates and council employees.
Ballarat City mayor Samantha McIntosh said “it’s very important for us to follow through with the next two parts of this project”; the duplication of stage one as well as a connection through to the Glenelg Highway.
“We certainly want to see it sooner rather than later. We know the big picture plans have been done, the visionary plans were put on the table way back when we started talking about the Ballarat West Employment Zone many years ago.”
Council has been lobbying both state and federal governments for $80 million to complete the next two elements of Link Road.
READ MORE: How Link Road will work when it’s done
Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford stopped short of offering funds for the project’s subsequent stages, but said “I’ve always been a big fan of this project and I’ve always accepted the arguments that were put forward to us by council and others in the community about the need to plan and manage growth well”.
While former Labor Premier John Brumby committed $2.5 million to the project, the majority of the $38 million road came from the former Napthine Liberal government in 2013.
Opposition treasury spokesman Michael O’Brien also declined to commit to funding stage two of the road but said the shadow cabinet would be having discussions with Ballarat City Council to get more detail about next legs of the development.
