The council this week agreed to call tenders to update the 2020 Transportation Strategy, developed in 1993.

The move comes only days after the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry called for the creation of a regional super highway linking Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Shepparton.

The Bendigo Road Transport Strategy will be developed by the council in partnership with VicRoads.

Bendigo Mayor Kevin Gibbins said most of the present roads strategy had been completed.

“Some of the key recommendations of the strategy include completion of the ‘Inner Box’ to a four-lane divided road around the Bendigo CBD and the realignment of the arterial road network through the East Bendigo industrial area,” Cr Gibbins said.

“As most of the work has already occurred or is well advanced, the time has come to develop a new strategy to manage present and future demands on the road network.”

Cr Gibbins said the key objectives of the new strategy would be to:

• evaluate the existing road network;

• assess the performance of the present network based on the future growth identified in existing strategic studies;

• identify improvement for freight movements;

• identify any potential new corridors or road linkages; and

• undertake an economic evaluation of road improvements.

Representatives of stakeholder groups including several State Government departments and local development organisations will assist in the formation of the strategy.

Cr Gibbins said detailed traffic data had been collected and a traffic model developed by VicRoads to identify future transport needs.