Wheatbelt Secondary Freight Network

This project aims at upgrading Local Government roads to form a secondary network capable of carrying heavy vehicles across the region. The overall project is a collaboration between the 42 local governments in the Wheatbelt and the State and Commonwealth Governments to deliver over 4,400km of upgraded and new roads which connect the regions to the state and national highway network.

Within the Shire of Pingelly, it is proposed to upgrade approximately 40km of existing roads to a highway standard of a 10m pavement with an 8m sealed road. This is the upgrade of the North Bannister - Pingelly and Aldersyde - Pingelly Roads as per the map below:

Route 26 will connect the Albany Highway to Pingelly through Wandering on a highway standard road, improving this important east-west connection.

The State and Commonwealth Governments have provided the majority of the funding – 93%, with the relevant local governments responsible to fund the remaining 7% through rate resources. For the Shire of Pingelly, the State and Commonwealth Governments will contribute $7,000,000 and the local government will contribute approximately $500,000 over 5 years. To raise this money, an additional 2% rate increase has been applied for 5 years, starting in the 2021/22 financial year.

This is an exciting project for the Shire as it:

• Improves road safety;
• Will provide employment within the Shire;
• Maintain and upgrade roads in need of repair;
• Provide high quality access for local businesses and farms, particularly for heavy vehicles;
• Increase accessibility across the region including bringing tourists into the town of Pingelly; and
• Save ratepayers in the Shire of Pingelly approximately $3,000,000 for this upgrade work when compared to existing road upgrade programs.

This project represents value for money for ratepayers and the Shire of Pingelly’s focus on road maintenance and upgrades over the next number of years.