Murray Bridge council watch: May 2023

The city's councillors debate truck traffic on Maurice Road, dog registration fees and memory boxes at Lerwin.

Diverting traffic off Maurice Road, Murray Bridge will be one of Mayor Wayne Thorley’s top priorities for the next three and a half years. Photo: Peri Strathearn.

Murray Bridge’s mayor wants heavy vehicles off Maurice Road by 2026

Heavy truck traffic will be diverted off Maurice Road, Murray Bridge by 2026 if Wayne Thorley has anything to say about it.

At a meeting on Monday night, the city’s mayor confirmed that getting heavy vehicles off the increasingly busy road was still “one of my key aspirations for this term” in office.

One solution would be to improve the route north from the Monarto freeway exit to Mannum Road.

Progress will take time, but the wheels of the council machine are beginning to turn.

The council committee which deals with planning and infrastructure noted “the need for action to commence” at a meeting last month, and outgoing CEO Michael Sedgman said staff recognised that it was a top priority.

In the meantime, the top section of Maurice Road will soon be made safer for trucks to use.

Road-sealing works are almost complete on the section closest to the Old Princes Highway; and the last dirt section, between there and the Boral quarry at Rocky Gully, will be sealed in the near future.

The federal government recently awarded the council $900,000 worth of Local Roads and Community Infrastructure funding for the purpose.

That meant the council would be able to spend more of its own funds on repairing other roads, Mr Sedgman said.

Dog rego fees go up