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Regional Roads Victoria has confirmed workers at the ongoing Keeping Ballarat Moving sites will pause until early 2023 for the Christmas break.
The sites will be made safe, including night works to finish asphalting works at La Trobe Street. but speed restrictions will remain in place.
On background, it was revealed despite passing motorists saying they say new concrete kerbing being ripped up at La Trobe Street, there has been no issues with the design, and the department will continue monitoring the site to ensure it meets standards during construction.
It was "challenging" to install drainage at the La Trobe Street site due to the "continued heavy rainfall", it was noted.
There was no confirmation of any cost overrun, but "contingencies, including potential delays and impacts associated with weather are factored into the cost of construction".
RRV's Grampians regional director Sarah Henderson said in a statement "works are progressing at all other sites as we work hard to improve traffic flow and ease congestion right across Ballarat".
"We will ensure our sites are safe to keep the community of Ballarat connected with friends and family over this period," she said.
PREVIOUSLY:
Get ready for more roundabouts across Ballarat next year.
The City of Ballarat and the state government are getting a move on with major intersection works across Ballarat, and drivers should expect a few changes in the next few months.
Drivers should expect up to nine months of disruptions when a new roundabout begins construction in Miners Rest, at the Melbourne-bound exit on the Ballarat-Maryborough Road.
The $5.6 million state government project will kick off on January 9, and will reduce a risky freeway exit intersection.
Elsewhere, several intersection upgrades announced years ago have been completed - there's traffic lights working on Gillies Street in Wendouree at Gregory Street, and at Hertford Street and Albert Street in Sebastopol.
The lights at Docwra Street near Magpie Primary School are also working, but there'll be a lot more work to complete before this project is finished.
The other three projects in the state government's $60.8 million Keeping Ballarat Moving election promise - from 2018 - are further away.
Expect more disruptions and detours at the Delacombe Town Centre, where traffic lights are replacing a roundabout at the Glenelg Highway and Wiltshire Lane.
Similarly, works are dragging on at La Trobe Street and Wiltshire Lane, where more drainage works were required - drivers have reported seeing workers digging up finished concrete kerbing in the last week.
Finally, the new roundabout at the dangerous Dyson Drive and Ballarat-Carngham Road corner should begin construction early next year.
The state government's Department of Transport was emailed questions on Monday about the expected completion date for the Keeping Ballarat Moving projects, as well as whether each is still under-budget, but no response was received before deadline.
The state government has also allocated $6 million to investigate duplicating the Ballarat-Carngham Road between Dyson Drive and Wiltshire Lane.
On council's end, while the focus is largely on road surface repairs following a massive amount of rain through spring and early December - remember, Ballarat had its wettest October on record this year - several major projects are getting under way.
Construction is almost complete at the corner of Navigators Road and Warrenheip Road, improving an intersection where it was common to see knocked-over streetsigns as drivers navigated the bend, while expect works to start soon on the new roundabout on Remembrance Drive and Madden Road, the entrance to Cardigan Village.
This was the site of a tragic fatal crash in 2018, and it has taken years for the project to gain heritage approvals.
Council's infrastructure and environment director Bridget Wetherall said in a statement the notorious Gregory Street West and Ring Road intersection will also begin roundabout works in late January, with council expecting it to be finished before the middle of the year.
This intersection has seen dozens of crashes as traffic off the Ballarat Link Road increases.
Intersection upgrades funded by the federal government's Black Spot program, at Ripon and Urquhart streets in Ballarat Central and Eureka and Fussell streets in Ballarat East, are also expected to begin next year.
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