The 102-year-old bridge is no longer fit for purpose with primary producers, the expansion of the Thales munitions factory and 11,000 vehicles per day all impacted.
During a two-day tour of northern Victoria last week, Nationals leader, Matt Canavan made an unscheduled visit to Yarrawonga to see its 102-year-old bridge for himself.
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Flanked by the Federal Member for Nicholls, Sam Birrell, State Member for Ovens Valley, Tim McCurdy and members of the Green Route Community Group, Senator Canavan was given a crash course in the reasons why the Yarrawonga Mulwala Bridge project needs to be elevated in priority.
“It's the fourth busiest bridge on the New South Wales Victorian border; only Albury, Echuca and Mildura carry more vehicles,” Mr Lawless said.
Senator Canavan was ‘pretty shocked” at the state of the bridge and said he would be a “receptive ear when Tim (McCurdy) comes and bashes it”.
But his first question was “do you have a costed plan to fix it?”.
Until that happens, there can be no running to the Federal Government for money.
Mr Birrell said the narrow bridge may have been fine 50 years ago, but with today’s traffic it was no longer fit for purpose.
“Senator Canavan understood that very well,” he said.
“We gave Matt the history; now he’s the Nationals leader he needs to get his head around the infrastructure priorities around Australia, and I wanted to make sure those in Nicholls are in front of mind.
“The NSW government been more proactive, but not as proactive as they should be, and Victoria has been dragging their heels.
“A new government in Victoria is the opportunity to inject some momentum into the project because Tim McCurdy will drive that and work with the NSW Government.
“When the State Governments come to us, I want the Feds ready to make a commitment.”
Members of the Green Route Community Group meet with Nationals Leader, Senator Matt Canavan (second from right), Sam Birrell MP and Tim McCurdy MP in Yarrawonga to discuss the need to prioritise a new Yarrawonga Mulwala Bridge.
In August, Federation council endorsed a submission to Transport for NSW - Draft Riverina Murray Strategic Regional Integrated Transport Plan with the bridge at the top of its list.
The draft plan evaluated diverse and changing transport needs of NSW subregions and local government areas to arrive at a 20-year vision defining the key priorities to guide coordinated solutions.
The submission is due this Friday, September 11 and general manager, Adrian Butler said Federation Council’s top priority was road funding, including for bridges, and freight connectivity including cross border and bridge constraints.
“Council listed these points in face-to-face meetings with Transport for NSW leading up to the draft plan,” Mr Butler said.
“We have listed the new bridge required for Yarrawonga Mulwala as our number one priority.”
The Green Route Community Group also made a submission to the draft plan.
Mr Lawless said every resident and primary producer in the region would benefit, that a new bridge would be the most direct transport route to Victoria and the Melbourne ports for grain and other produce.
“It would serve an area from Corowa to Berrigan and as far north as Urana,” he said.
“At present, these producers must travel via Corowa or Barooga to transport their produce to Melbourne.
“The expanding Thales munitions factory needs a direct and reliable route to its Benalla complex.
“Not to mention the 11,000 vehicles who use the existing bridge every day.”
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