General News
30 January, 2026
Upgrade begins on O'Callaghans Parade project
Greater safety for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians is a key feature of the planning for a major Horsham road reconstruction due to begin in February, but it will not be without some traffic changes during the three-month project.
The O'Callaghans Parade project will add a 23.5-metre shared lane for cyclists and pedestrians.
Consecutive roundabouts are also planned to improve safety at the Urquhart and Bakers streets intersections.
The upgrade will also provide a safer crossing for pedestrians.
This project is part of a larger plan to upgrade all of O’Callaghans Parade and nearby sections of Firebrace and Urquhart streets, aiming to improve safety and overall amenity.
Work is scheduled to start on Monday, February 2, and finish by April 30.
The Horsham Rural City Council has assured the public that traffic access will be maintained with minimal interruption and managed with on-site traffic controllers during the three-month project.
Pedestrian access will continue and will also be managed by the onsite controllers.
Emergency and ambulance vehicles will have access at all times during the project.
The HRCC lodged an application with the Australian Government’s Active Transport Fund (ATF) for a grant to upgrade Urquhart St and O’Callaghans Pde in January 2025, in line with a resolution at the council’s December 2024 meeting.
The grant was an opportunity, but required a matching contribution from the council or other sources.
In July 2025, HRCC made a motion to accept the funding agreement from the Australian Government for the successful Active Transport Fund grant for the combined Urquhart St / O’Callaghans Pde upgrade project.
The adopted HRCC 2024-25 Budget four-year capital works program included $1,300,000 for the O’Callaghans Parade works.
The amount of $848,000 of this was to be grant-funded from a planned Transport Accident Commission grant.
This was initially anticipated to be $800,000.
The proposed Council contribution remained at $500,000 for a sub-total of $1,348,000 for that section of works.
The TAC agreed in principle that its funds could be used for this co-contribution, noting that they had not formally approved the grant at that time, nor had the council.
These funds were identified as the co-contribution for the Federal grant application.
The project for a combined scope was presented to the Federal Government.
The funding agreement had to be executed by March 25, 2025, so the council was asked to approve proceeding to meet the deadline.
During the assessment period, Urquhart St was identified as a priority in both the Horsham CBD Revitalisation Streetscape Plan and the Horsham Bicycle and Shared Paths Infrastructure Plan 2024 – 2034, with the street designated as a priority route for cyclists to avoid the area.
The cyclist safety aspect of the project made it suitable for the ATF, which included, amongst its eligibility criteria, projects that aim to improve road safety and reduce road trauma for cyclists and pedestrians.
Various kerb extensions will help reduce traffic speeds and shorten pedestrian crossing distances.
A medium strip and vegetation are included for aesthetic value on the main route into the CBD.
An analysis of conflict points by an accredited Road Safety Auditor identified that a standard A T-intersection usually has six conflict points each, whereas a roundabout reduces the conflict points to four in the case of a four-way and three if replacing a T-intersection.
With three streets merging at different locations with O’Callaghans Parade, there are 19 conflict points altogether, but the introduction of roundabouts would reduce the number of potential conflict points for collisions.
The community was invited to have their say early in 2025, online, in person, or by post, by completing a survey.
Drop-In information sessions were held on February 18, 2025, at Horsham Town Hall and on February 20, 2025, at Natimuk.
Community engagement resulted in seven positive responses, 19 negative, and 10 mixed.
The major issue raised was the traffic congestion it may cause on the road; however, that was attributed to the river crossing and the Williams Rd intersection.
The proposed projects under SLRSP funding were to upgrade safety standards in line with the funding guidelines, not to improve quality or existing infrastructure.
The plans state that suitability conditions for semi‐trailers have been included.
Both the O’Callaghans Parade and Urquhart Street projects have been in design for some time.
To move forward with the Urquhart Street works, both O’Callaghans Parade segments required approval, as their funding was required as a co-contribution to the Urquhart Street ATF grant.
The recommendation, moved by Cr Bec Sluggett and seconded by Cr Todd Wilson, was that the council approve the submission of grant applications to the Safe Local Roads and Streets Program fund for the O’Callaghans Pde Double Roundabout and Shared Use Path.
The council’s decision at that time was conditional on further information being sourced on the project, as the time frame available for making the funding application was limited nd would have impacted the funding opportunity if the deadline had not been met.
The report provided to the council contained further background on the project, including the detailed plans for the works, the outcomes of consultation, and the funding sources.
It was recommended that the council approve the execution of the funding agreement for the Urquhart St O’Callaghans Pde upgrade project to enable implementation.
The Horsham Rural City Council elected members received additional information for consideration before approving the upgrade in July 2025.
Not all councillors supported the project due to the council's financial commitment required and the low number of reported incidents in the area earmarked for the roundabouts.
The motion was successful with a 4:3 vote in favour.