B-Doubles will now be able to travel from the South Australian town of Penola directly to Casterton, Victoria, after a road upgrade was officially completed. Source: ATN
Funded jointly by the Commonwealth and South Australian governments, the $1.33 million project saw shoulder-sealing works completed along 2.6km of the Penola-Casterton Road from outside Penola all the way to the South Australia-Victorian border,
The full length of Penola’s Tower Road, including the Tower Road-Casterton Road intersection, was also upgraded in the project.
In an announcement, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack says the upgraded sections could now be reclassified as a Higher Mass Limit (HML) B-Double route to allow continuous freight access from Penola into Victoria and back.
“The Penola-Casterton Road is a key freight link for timber harvesting in the Green Triangle Region in the south eastern region of Australia and this upgrade will improve road safety and freight access to support harvesting and chipping of blue gum plantations,” he said.
South Australian Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government Stephan Knoll says the project will also facilitate a more direct transport route to storage and distribution facilities.
“In addition to its support for agriculture, a large increase in timber plantation activity has occurred over the past decade in this area to now make it the largest timber plantation area in Australia, constituting more than 17% of the national forest plantation sector,” Mr Knoll said.
The works had been a priority identified under the Green Triangle Freight Action Plan previously developed together between local councils and industry groups.
