Four options were presented to Council by VicRoads, one to south of the Ararat township and three to the north.

Councillors have nominated alignments one and three which form a common corridor to the north of the Ararat urban area and both options travel through what is predominately farm land to the north-east of the city.

Alignment two was discounted due to its close proximity to the eastern Ararat urban area which would potentially effect proposed and future residential development opportunities, while alignment four was ruled out due to the excessive length of the loop and the topography of the area, both of which would add significant cost to the bypass project.

Ararat Rural City mayor Ian Wilson said Council would be seeking feedback from the community before a final preferred route was selected.

"The action is to place this recommendation into the public domain and we are actively seeking comments from the public of the Ararat Rural City," he said.

"That is really critical of this whole process, we really do need the community of Ararat to own this preferred route and then we can market that not only with VicRoads, but it allows Council undertake that long term strategic planning."

In 2009/10 VicRoads engaged an engineering firm to conduct a preliminary study for a possible future bypass of Ararat.

The cost to to complete the Environmental Effect Statement (EES) for both Ararat and Beaufort is between $2.7-3 million, while it is expected to cost a further $20 million dollars to construct the final bypass.

It is understood that VicRoads is not in the position to continue to the EES stage and final decision on the route until funds are allocated to complete the bypass. This will most likely require a funding commitment from the Federal as well as the State governments.

Last month a meeting was held between VicRoads and the Ararat Rural City Council where it was discussed that whilst VicRoads was not in a position to select a preferred bypass option there was no objections to individual Councils nominating preferred routes.

Cr Ian Harris said selecting a preferred route would enable Council to better plan for the future expansion of Ararat.

"I am very pleased to move this motion. I have been to a couple of regional meetings on transport and Ararat Rural City is only one municipality that has got concerns about not knowing what the bypass route is going to be," he said.

"I can't underestimate the importance in terms of the future development of the rural city and the rural areas surrounding it. I think given the opportunity to do this and acting on it is a very positive planning move for this township."

Cr Fay Hull also agreed that narrowing down the options would allow the Council to be better prepared when the highway duplication reaches Ararat.

"This gives our community an indication of what our preferred route is, but it also means that we as a municipality are having some say," she said.

"VicRoads have developed a number of options and I think it is important that what this Council feels is the appropriate route is one that we make VicRoads aware of.

"We have no idea, things may change between now and when it actually goes ahead, but I think it is very important that we have what is our preferred option on the table."