The funds come from the TAC Local Government Grant Program and will be split between the development of the Safe Routes to School Program and the development of the Moira Shire Network Safety Plan.
Moira Shire Council chair administrator Graeme Emonson said the grant for the Safe Routes to School Program would be used to undertake road safety audits and develop school travel plans for the nine townships with schools in the shire.
“The School Travel Plans are intended to increase active travel rates in school children, improve road safety in school precincts, and promote road safety education in schools,” Dr Emonson said.
“The biggest barriers to children walking or riding to school are road safety, lack of safe pedestrian and cyclist crossing points, and missing footpath infrastructure.
“The Safe Routes to School Program will give priority ranking for infrastructure and transport management improvements, identified in the School Travel Plans, for consideration in council’s future works programs and grant applications.”
Council is already talking to schools in Yarrawonga and Tungamah to develop school travel plans, with engagement with schools in other townships to be rolled out this year.
The second TAC grant will go towards the development of a Network Safety Plan, which will set the vision for what council’s road network will look like in the future.
“The NSP is a strategic document that prioritises infrastructure investments to proactively reduce road trauma, fatalities and serious injuries across a road network,” Dr Emonson said.
“It will identify what changes must be made over time to improve road safety.”
These initiatives are part of the Moira Shire Council Plan 2025-2029 and the Moira Shire Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan 2025-2030.