Mr Merritt, along with the wider VicRoads leadership team will also attend a Western Highway bypass community drop-in session at Ararat RSL from 5.30pm on July 25.

Route and interchange options will also be presented for feedback at the drop-in session.

Mr Merrit said the sessions would give people the chance to share their experiences about how the roads affect their lives and livelihoods, and what can be done to support better connections in the future.

“A doubling of the maintenance budget for this financial year makes it good timing for the community

to shape what happens next,” he said.

Councils, regional freight operations and tourism representatives from Stawell, Horsham, Warracknabeal and Nhill will also meet with VicRoads leaders during the trip.

“Reducing deaths and injuries and supporting the farming and tourism industries will be important issues to discuss,” Mr Merritt said.

“We know some of the strongest farming producers are located in these parts of the state, and as they continue to innovate and do things differently, we need to adapt so we can continue getting their goods to market and remain competitive on the world stage.

“Tourism is also a strong driver of regional growth,

“We want to hear first hand what we can be doing to support growth in our regional and rural centres,” Mr Merritt said.

“By travelling on the roads that country Victorians use every day and talking with the people who know their roads best, we are getting first-hand insights to shape a better future.”

RESIDENTS, business owners and road users have been invited to help shape plans for a Western Highway bypass of Ararat.

VicRoads will present a draft bypass route option at community drop-in sessions next week.

VicRoads western region director Ewen Nevett said a route option and five interchange concept designs would be shown on July 25 and 29 in Ararat.

“This draft option is a chance for us to continue conversations about the bypass since our previous drop-in sessions throughout 2016,” he said.

“Since the last round of community feedback, we’ve further developed the interchange concept designs and drafted a bypass route option connecting to these interchanges and key roads.

“We want to hear people’s ideas and gather feedback on what we’ve developed so far. Community feedback is important in informing the draft route option and interchange concept designs as planning continues.”

Mr Nevett said the VicRoads statewide leadership team would attend the July 25 session from 5.30pm.

“The leadership group are our decision-makers and they want to speak with people living in Ararat and the

surrounding region about all things country roads,” he said.

“This visit is part of a statewide initiative to meet as many country Victorians as possible to understand how they rely on the regional arterial road network and gives the community an opportunity to shape what happens next to their roads.”

The community sessions will be held at Ararat RSL function room, 74-76 High Street, Ararat on July 25 from 3pm – 7.30pm and July 29 from 10am – 1pm.

Those who can’t make it to the sessions and want to join in the discussion about the Ararat bypass or country roads can visit www.engagevicroads.vic.gov.au. Ararat content will be live from July 24.