Road closures will be in place for eight to 12 weeks as Hume council upgrades a bluestone bridge between Bulla and Wildwood.
Ageing timber will be replaced with a five-metre-wide concrete deck as part of a $725,000 project to improve the historic bridge over Deep Creek on Wildwood Road South.
The bridge, increasingly used by motorists heading south from Romsey and Lancefield and by traffic detoured by crashes on Sunbury Road, will remain a single-lane structure after the work’s completion with the council keen to retain its ‘‘quaint appearance’’.
Steel guard rails will be added, while historically significant iron girders will be retained.
Approaches on both sides of the bridge will be widened with 425 metres of pavement upgraded as part of works, which start this month.
Wildwood CFA captain Joel Xuereb said that while residents would have welcomed a wider bridge, improvements to its approaches would make a big difference.
‘‘In a perfect world, we’d have loved a new double-lane bridge, perhaps built next to the old structure,’’ he said. “But under the circumstances, it isn’t too bad.’’
Mayor Helen Patsikatheodorou said VicRoads had been involved in plans designed to maintain the bridge’s appearance.
‘‘Drivers are encouraged to cross Deep Creek at either Bulla Road or Kongaderra Road and allow extra time for their commute,’’ Cr Patsikatheodorou said.
