THE railway reserve and Kilborne, Kings and Parkins roads have been identified as priorities for a new bypass route at Rutherglen.

The initial report from the Rutherglen Heavy Vehicle Deviation Community Reference Group was presented to Indigo Shire Council at its meeting last Tuesday.

The reference group has been meeting over nine months and considered some 18 alternative routes and has now provided its recommendations to council.

Independent chairman of the group, Tony Plowman, said members considered a number of routes which it felt would not be acceptable to the Rutherglen community for a bypass route, and importantly has prioritised remaining routes to provide council and the community with a basis for further detailed assessment.

The group’s report has recommended that all routes within the Rutherglen township area, with exception of the railway reserve, are not suitable for a bypass as they are too heavily developed.

The routes listed for further consideration are the railway reserve, the Kilborne Road alternative, Kings Road option and the Parkins Road option.

Mr Plowman stated that it became apparent through the process that the Rutherglen community wants action on a heavy vehicle bypass sooner rather than later, and that it would clearly prefer heavy vehicles to be deviated well out of the urban area.

He went on to say that the discussions with VicRoads have identified that the very expensive outer options are likely to be funded only in the very long term if at all, and the difficulty confronting the reference group was to find a route that was both acceptable to the community and likely to be funded in the short to medium term.

Public submissions will be sought on the report and council will also consider further information on costings provided by Vic Roads in the near future.

Council will be looking to appoint a consultant in the near future with a view to having the detailed route assessment provided by June 2009.