Mayor remains positive about bypass process

NOW that he’s received confirmation of the Second Range Crossing funding, Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio said the best thing he could do was remain positive about the process.

NOW that he's received confirmation of the Second Range Crossing funding, Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio said the best thing he could do was remain positive about the process.

Cr Antonio said last night's Federal Budget had delivered the funding in the timeframe he was expecting, and had followed "heavy negotiations" over a long period.

Now, he said, the focus was on how Toowoomba Regional Council would pay for costs associated with the bypass.

"It will mean looking at our forward budgets, now we know that this is definitely on.

"There's at least $60million worth of work Toowoomba Regional Council will have to do to connect to the bypass.

"That will simply mean we'll have to change our priorities around. We have been expecting it to happen but we do know there's a significant amount of work to do to hook the bypass up to the community of Toowoomba.

"It wouldn't have happened without Ian Macfarlane. He's forced the issue."

Cr Antonio said securing a private partnership would be a "complex task", and the council was keen to be at the table as the project went forward.

Originally published as Mayor remains positive about bypass process