SEATS sees Traralgon bypass as major Federal issue

SEATS advocates for the Princes Highway corridor through Gippsland to be improved and that funding allocations be made for planning of the Traralgon Bypass alignment.

To enable resolution of the Traralgon bypass alignment requires every effort to be made across all Australian Government and Victorian Government Agencies involved to determine a way forward through the Latrobe Valley Mine Rehabilitation Plan. Planning for the bypass can continue once critical information about the rehabilitation of the Loy Yang Mine becomes available. Given the proximity to the Loy Yang open cut, construction of a bypass on the gazetted alignment may impact on options for rehabilitation of the Loy Yang mine.

Once the Latrobe Valley Mine Rehabilitation Plan is determined, SEATS estimates that the Victorian government will be required to allocate $5-10m in the 2025/26 budget to determine the scope, corridor definition and cost estimates for the Traralgon bypass construction over say 6-9 financial years. SEATS will strongly support Victoria in an approach to the Australian Government for at least a 50% funding commitment towards the construction phases.