On Sunday afternoon NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian opened the chequebook as contracts were exchanged to begin work on the Bomen Enabling Roads project.

All three tiers of government came together to facilitate the works, which will see the work crew from the Kapooka Bridge project come across and lay the groundwork for the future freight hub.

Mrs Berejiklian said the city was on the cusp of growing even more and she was happy to provide $8.3 million in state funding in this year’s budget. The Federal Government was investing $14.5 million and the City of Wagga was contributing $12.3 million.

Member for Riverina Michael McCormack said residents of the region would benefit from improved driving conditions as a result of moving the transport of goods and stock onto the rail network and off the region’s roads.

“Road safety and traffic congestion will improve, while deterioration of roads will slow,” Mr McCormack said.

“It is estimated about 4000 vehicles travel this section of road every day, with 20 per cent being heavy vehicles.”

However, traffic is still expected to travel across Gobbagombalin Bridge and Wagga councillor Greg Conkey, who was present at the exchange, said growth in Estella and around the university would only add to the problem.

Mayor Rod Kendall said the announcement of the funding earlier this year had already led to a number of enquiries from “very large businesses across Australia”.

“This is the actual start of the project and it will bring growth in industry to Wagga,” he said.

“The total investment by the second stage will be close to $70 million.”

Freight industry heavyweights predicted the Bomen freight hub would be a magnet for service industries.

Last financial year the region exported 130,000 containers – up from 50,000 in 2009 – and that number is tipped to grow once the Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics (RIFL) Hub comes online.

Port of Melbourne’s NSW business development manager David Bardos expects a swathe of new businesses to bring new jobs to Wagga once the RIFL Hub is up and running, in their bid to take advantage of the region’s increased freight activity. 

“The RIFL Hub is vital infrastructure that’s critical for our region,” he said.

“Consolidating freight in the Riverina at a focal point creates endless value add opportunities in Bomen, like warehousing, packing and cold storage.”