NEAR misses between trucks and cars on the Yarara Gap are a thing of the past following the completion of one of the biggest road projects in Greater Hume Shire in recent times.

The $3.5 million reconstruction of a notorious 2.3-kilometre section of the Jingellic Road was officially opened on Tuesday.

Jingellic Road is a major link road between the Hume Highway and the Upper Murray areas with travel times reduced by up to 10 minutes.

But Greater Hume mayor Heather Wilton spoke with personal experience about how dangerous the Yarara Gap stretch was before the upgrade.

“It was a very narrow, winding, steep gradient with nowhere to pull off if you got into trouble,” she told The Border Mail.

“It was being used by log trucks, B-doubles, stock transports and if you were caught on the wrong side of one of them it was a very scary event.

“You can actually drive on the road in top gear now.

“Previously you were lucky to get up in second gear.”

B-double transports will be the biggest beneficiaries of the upgrade.

The council estimates 30 new jobs and 100 indirect jobs will be created as a result of the better road over the Yarara Gap.

Sawn logs from the softwood forests of the Upper Murray to the Ettamogah rail hub and Norske Skog paper mill can be carted by B-doubles instead of semi-trailers and livestock trucks previously avoided the road due to safety concerns when travelling between Holbrook and Corryong.

Freight carriers will also have a viable alternative if Tumbarumba Road is shut to bushfires as happened in 2014.

Greater Hume worked with Tumbarumba Shire in building the case for $1.75 million in federal funding and another $750,000 from the NSW government.

Cr Wilton praised the efforts of contractors to keep the road open during the 30-week reconstruction.

“Community engagement efforts prior to the letting of the tender and during the project meant that affected residents were kept informed throughout by council,” she said.

“The fact that the roadway remained open during the project met with high community approval.”

Albury MLA Greg Aplin attended the official opening along with representatives of contractor RECivil, project manager GHD and residents.

Albury-Wodonga, on the Victorian/New South Wales border, is set to be home to Australia’s first cross laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing plant.

CLT is fabricated by bonding together timber boards with structural adhesives to produce a solid timber panel, with each layer of the panel alternating between longitudinal and transverse layers. Alternating the grain directions of each layer reduces many weakness found in other timber products.

The $25 million XLam operation is expected to create up to 54 jobs when its begins operations, scheduled for 2017.

While XLam is yet to determine a location to establish the 60,000 square metre plant, the company hopes construction will begin as early as next month.

XLam Australia business development manager Rob De Bincrat said Albury-Wodonga stood out as a competitive destination for investment.

“So we did a lot of feasibility on a lot of different locations and Albury-Wodonga stacked up significantly compared to others,” he said.

“The reason for that is location to the Hume Highway and also the ability to source skilled labour for the 54 direct and indirect jobs we’ll require to bring this development to fruition.”

He said the investment would be a major boon for the border community.

“From a jobs perspective we’re looking at a total of 30 direct roles in manufacturing and service-linked roles within the business and approximately 24 indirect jobs within areas like distribution, services, just growing distribution,” he said.

“The site will be a highly visited area with clients and the popularity of CLT across the world, so it will also assist with hotels and local-led entertainment.”