Residents will finally be able to take a bus from the middle of Ballarat to the Delacombe Town Centre from November 22.
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The Route 25 bus, which currently stretches from the Ballarat train station to Delacombe, via Eyre Street and Pleasant Street, will have its route modified to add a new stop at DTC.
The route heads down the Glenelg Highway before turning north at Wiltshire Lane, then loops around Greenhalghs Road, past Delacombe and Lumen Christi primary schools.
THE CURRENT BALLARAT BUS NETWORK
Wendouree MP Juliana Addison confirmed the change will involve a minor change to the current timetable.
"We're connecting the Delacombe Town Centre to Ballarat's bus network - giving the community more direct access," she said in a statement.
The Public Transport Users Association's Ballarat convenor Ben Lever said the change had taken longer than expected, but was welcome nonetheless.
"It's still quite radial, but it's very helpful to have public transport routes that have anchors at both ends," he said.
"Something that has a route outwards to DTC, and inwards to the station, is good.
"(The route) was designed so (it) could be extended in future when subdivisions are developed, so the path works out well, and particularly out west, in the Lucas area, that's somewhere that could do with extensions quite soon."
The City of Ballarat has prioritised reviewing the bus network as soon as possible as part of its Integrated Transport Plan - bus routes are a state government responsibility, however.
"This extension to the Ballarat bus network to Delacombe Town Centre will better service our growing city and is an important improvement. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the State Government for further enhancements in the future," a council spokesperson said in a statement.
Route 25 will run from 5.40am to 7.45pm on weekdays, 7.30am to 5.20pm Saturdays and 8.30am to 4.30pm Sundays.
"It'll be really important to have a review of the network, and look at the pathing of the routes, and trying to improve the timetable to run buses more frequently, and later in the evenings," he said.
"That way people can access jobs and nightlife in town, and particularly in light of COVID, we need to get people out to hospitality venues in a COVID-safe way when restrictions are further lifted."
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