Yarrawonga-Mulwala: Call for funding to start new bridge

Yarrawonga-Mulwala residents fear a replacement bridge connecting the Murray River towns has fallen off the radar.

Yarrawonga-Mulwala residents and farmers fear a replacement bridge connecting the Murray River towns has fallen off the radar of the federal and state governments.

More than two decades after the need for a new traffic bridge over Lake Mulwala was first identified, the Victorian and NSW governments late last year finally settled on a preferred alignment known as the green route located west of the existing bridge.

The catalyst for a new bridge was the need to close a secondary crossing known as the weir bridge which took place last year after 82 years of service.

But the weir bridge shutting has intensified local traffic issues including the creation of an all-year round headache for farmers such as Chris Dowling, who regularly needs to move large machinery between land he owns in Victoria and NSW.

“You aren’t allowed to shift wide loads at night so you have to do it during the day which upsets everyone,” he said.

“You’ve got to have someone drive to the other side, close the bridge, then get your wide load over and get out the other side of town.

“Between now and when we get a new bridge we should have the weir bridge reopened to six metres.

“We’re dealing with 1920s infrastructure for 2020 equipment.”

More than 11,000 vehicles including B-Double trucks cross the bridge daily.

Yarrawonga-Mulwala residents John Lawless and Robert Purtle want the federal government to lead the charge on building a new bridge for the towns.

Two members of a lobby group which fought for the green route, John Lawless and Rob Purtle, have called on the federal government to take the lead with a funding commitment of at least $50 million towards building the new bridge.

Yarrawonga is in the Nicholls electorate where the Coalition is under attack from an independent candidate.

“We are 20 years too late,” Mr Lawless said.

“It was meant to be completed by 2020 to coincide with shutting the weir bridge.

“But 2020 has come and gone, the weir bridge has closed and we still haven’t got a commitment out of the federal and state governments to build a new bridge.

“We’re right behind the eight-ball.

“The fact of the matter is the federal government put up $100 million in Echuca-Moama and got it done.

“It’s the only way something similar will happen here.”

The existing bridge connecting Yarrawonga with Mulwala.

In late 2019 former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack indicated a shared funding agreement between the federal and NSW and Victorian governments to bankroll the Echuca-Moama Bridge could be replicated in Yarrawonga-Mulwala.

The initial cost of a replacement bridge in Yarrawonga-Mulwala was $100 million, but is expected to be closer to $150 million today.

Mr Purtle said the bridge issue was “getting handballed from one place to another”.

“We need someone to step up and own it,” he said.

“The dream result would be the federal government putting up $50 million initially and then let the states come up with the rest under an identical funding scenario that saw the Echuca-Moama bridge built.

“We just want a commitment so a start can be made.”