Physical work to begin on multi-million dollar Wagga infrastructure project

The Marshalls Creek Bridge upgrade has received a $20.9 million dollar injection - to be spread over the next four years - from last week's budget and is set to begin utility relocation in July.

"The funding has been a moving feast with that bridge," Wagga mayor Dallas Tout said.

"But to finally see some definitive timelines is really exciting for the city because it is a choke point and we've been lobbying for a long time."

The project was originally announced in 2018 and then green-lit in 2023, with the NSW government working on the plans to widen the Sturt Highway to four lanes over the bridge, aiming to improve safety and ease congestion on the highway through Wagga.

Although previously announced, the government's latest investment has been welcomed by members of the community, as the project's expected completion expected to be in 2027.

Cr Tout said Regional Transport and Roads Minister, Jenny Aitchison, had been receptive in conversations and made the project a priority.

"With the budget that's confirmed those timelines ... to see that asset in place in the city in the next couple of years, that will be really exciting," he said.

"It'll take out a major choke point for the whole city and for the highway.

"It's being able to get funding to either put infrastructure in place before growth happens or fix infrastructure that isn't appropriate, which is where this falls into. So to see that sorted is great."

Committee 4 Wagga CEO Scott Sanbrook said the organisation was strongly in support of any upgrade of Marshalls Creek Bridge.

"[The bridge has] long been considered a major problem for motorists in Wagga," he said.

"It's extremely pleasing to see steps being taken to move forward.

"I don't know if that's the right steps to have been taken, but it's extremely pleasing to see this moving forward and actually seeing something happen."

A Transport for NSW Spokesperson said the government had provided $30 million for the widening of the bridge, to help provide safer and efficient journeys in Wagga.

"Utility design, informed by recent investigations, is being carried out and involves planning for utility lines to be moved to new, safe, and compliant locations outside of the construction footprint," they said.

"The next step will be to begin the complex task of moving gas and electricity, and protecting telecommunication and optic fibre, to allow for major construction work to begin."

They added major construction was expected to start in mid-2025 and would take around two years to complete.

"Transport for NSW is committed to ensuring the bridge remains accessible to motorists and impacts are minimised where possible," they said.

"For this reason, work is being scheduled across two years to ensure we can maintain two lanes of traffic across the bridge on weekdays during peak periods and weekend closures are limited."

Mr Sanbrook said any timeline on this project was positive.

"This is something that just has to be done, so the fact that we have a timeline and we have some dates in place is a really important part of the process," he said.