Public WorksTransportVictoria
11 February 2020
Tonkin continues transport planning support for Horsham Rural City Council.
In collaboration with Horsham Rural City Council, we developed the Horsham Urban Transport Plan, an integrated transport plan for the Horsham township and urban area over the past 12 months. Council has recently endorsed the plan, which addressed their agenda to 'transform Horsham' through four inter-related strategic projects. The projects included an open space strategy, structure plan for the southern areas, city activity revitalisation and the Horsham Urban Transport Plan.
We were the lead consultant in developing the Transport Plan which established a range of strategies under six themes of Streets for People, Local Access and Movement, Public Transport, Parking, Cycling and Regional Links. The project included widespread community and stakeholder consultation including working through a project control group established by Council.
The plan is not a stand-alone document but one that supports and informs the key directions for Transforming Horsham. While some of the strategies are aspirational and build for the future, there are numerous actions that Council can take in the short term to have an immediate and real change on how the community lives and moves within Horsham. Importantly these strategies are designed to allow Council to manage and influence its own road network. While there are external factors that will also shape the future of Horsham, the plan provides a basis for Council and the community to control their own destiny.
The plan addresses key objectives established by Council including a more active and vibrant CBD and river precinct, more active transport, linking highways to economic activities while addressing unwanted through truck traffic through the city.
Following the successful completion of this work for the urban area, we will continue to work with Council on the review of the rural road network plan. The review aims of this project are to:
- Identify freight connections in the municipality’s rural areas
- Establish a priority farm machinery network, to facilitate the passage of agricultural implements with reduced potential for conflict with main traffic routes
- Enhance safety across the rural road network
- Identify economically-sustainable improvements to provide all weather access to key farming property locations
- Rationalise the road network where appropriate
- Develop an achievable service level and maintenance standards across Council’s sealed and unsealed rural road network.