Ballarat will host the 2026 Commonwealth Games marathon and Creswick will host mountain biking as the state government promises hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades.
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The games village, which will house about 1800 people, will be built at the currently-vacant former Ballarat saleyards on La Trobe Street.
The state government has also committed $50 million for a pedestrian overpass at the notoriously inaccessible Ballarat train station, and $150 million to build 5000 new permanent seats at Mars Stadium for the games, and another 18,000 temporary seats will be built, and a competition standard track on an existing playing field at the precinct.
The marathon, which Ballarat council and other leaders had pushed for, will join athletics, para-athletics, boxing, and T20 cricket already announced for Ballarat, though council's hopes for rowing on Lake Wendouree were dashed when organisers chose to introduce coastal rowing as a sport.
The mountain biking will be held across 60 kilometres of the new Creswick trails facility, which is currently under construction.
The major infrastructure announcements include several priority projects for council, including the station and stadium upgrades.
However, it's understood a new events-only train platform on the Maryborough line, and duplicating Creswick Road between the Western Freeway and Howitt Street, will also be required.
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It's expected serious amounts of investment will also be needed around Mars Stadium, in either the former John Valves factory site to the north or the current Ballarat Showgrounds site to the south, to create crowd-friendly entrance precincts.
The village will be part of a "long-term investment in vital housing and community infrastructure", according to a media release, though it's not clear how much will be permanent.
It will also be designed in consultation with Tradtional Owners, the state government says.
A major cultural festival will also be held in Ballarat alongside the games, building on experiences with White Night and the Ballarat International Foto Biennale.
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