Letter to the editor | Shepparton bypass

I am reminded of one happier event with the Shepparton bypass, amid the current bad news.

In the early 1980s the Federal Coalition Government created the National Highway Program. This was to have a sealed road around Australia by 1988, and also build several bridges across the Murray River and build a more inland highway to Sydney and Brisbane via Shepparton.

The original National Highway went through the city, along Wyndham St. While the bypass route was being decided there was a brief opportunity to use National Highway money to upgrade or duplicate the immediate north/south approaches to the city, including a second bridge over the Broken River.

Thanks to the co-operation of the Federal Labor Minister for Transport and Communications, Neil O’Keefe, and the local councils, working with me, this was achieved in the mid-1990s.

The process included a delegation of councillors to Canberra, and Mr O’Keefe, who lived at Heathcote, riding his motorbike to Shepparton several times to discuss progress. The new works were opened after I had retired.