NEW contractors will maintain Department of Transport roads in the Loddon Shire from Monday.
For 30 years, Loddon Shire Council has provided a road maintenance service to the Department of Transport and Planning, formally VicRoads. 
But from the New Year, that will change  after the council decided not to re-tender for the contract.
Loddon had been one of just five councils in Victoria maintaining department roads.
Operations director Steve Phillips said: “Council agreed to not re-tender for the maintenance contract and retain the staff so as to allow us to concentrate on our network.”
Council and the department continued to have a good working relationship, “after working on this contract for so many years it is hard to let it go, but it will let us focus on our own network ” said council’s works manager Daniel Lloyd.
Maintaining 394km of the department’s arterial roads in the shire will be SprayLine Road Services.
These roads are: Calder Highway, Loddon Valley Highway, Wimmera Highway, Bendigo Maryborough Rd, Bendigo Pyramid Rd, Boort Charlton Rd, Boort Kerang Rd, Boort Mitiamo Rd, Boort Pyramid Rd, Boort Wedderburn Rd, Boort Wycheproof Rd, Bridgewater Dunolly Rd, Bridgewater Maldon Rd, Bridgewater Serpentine Rd, Dunolly Eddington Rd, Echuca Mitiamo Rd, Leitchville Pyramid Rd, Logan Wedderburn Rd and Prairie Rochester Rd.