A major freight link in Victoria, the Sunraysia Highway, will be the first to benefit from $964 million in funding from the State Government.

The Lascelles motorway will be the first major road link to be upgraded as part of the maintenance project.

The highway is a 330 km north-south rural road in western Victoria, connecting Ouyen, 441 km northwest of Melbourne, to the northwest of Ballarat.

It connects grain and vegetable farms across Victoria to national and international markets in South Australia and southern Victoria.

As part of the works, 1 km of road will be reconstructed to better manage the large number of trucks that use it daily.

The Sunraysia Highway is part of the road and rail network that supports the state’s $36 billion freight industry and employs more than 260,000 people across all parts of the supply chain.

▲ The highway connects the agricultural industries of northern Victoria to markets in South Australia and the rest of Victoria.

Other projects under the nine-month, $964 million program – the largest amount spent in a single year on highway maintenance in state history – include secondary and main roads in Barwon South West, Gippsland, Hume, Loddon Mallee, Grampians and Melbourne. regions.

Freight connections are being renewed across the state as rail infrastructure is commissioned to keep freight trucks off main roads, reducing congestion and traffic.

Developers are monitoring developments as new, improved transportation corridors and connections create opportunities for residential, industrial and office projects at key nodes.