AFTER 15 years of "neglect" by the former Labor government, the Moree Plains Shire is finally seeing major road infrastructure works completed.
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Speed limits on the Newell Highway have increased to 110 kilometres an hour, flood funding was provided on time and the Moree bypass has been guaranteed under Roads Minister Duncan Gay.
According to Moree mayor Katrina Humphries, Mr Gay's only slip-up has been the Grain Harvest Management Scheme (GHMS), which the council only chose to support following heated backlash from farmers and transport operators.
The GHMS allowed a five per cent tolerance on general mass limits for trucks during harvest, streamlining logistics to cope with crop and grain variability.
Road conditions were the main reason for not adopting the policy straight away.
Narrabri mayor Conrad Bolton said his shire would need a road condition report prior to harvest to assess the scheme's impacts on the local road network.
Both councils said their continuation of the scheme in 2014-15 would depend on State funding being provided to alleviate the costs of repairing roads.
Cr Bolton said while he was pleased with the work done by the current State government, more work was needed, particularly on bridges.
"The government has been very good in regards to funding for flood damage and with that we could put better gravel on roads as they were being repaired," he said.
"We need the Tulladunna bridge west of Wee Waa replaced, and we'd like to see the timber bridge over Wee Waa Lagoon replaced by this government."
On Cr Humphries' wishlist are two big infrastructure projects to prevent Moree being cut off in two directions during flood.
"We need single span bridges on the Carnarvon Highway area at Byra, which cuts Mungindi off from Moree and Moree off from south-west Queensland, and at the wash pool to the east of Moree," she said.
