About the Mundowy Lane raising project
Mundowy Lane is an important arterial road crossing Beavers Creek and the Murrumbidgee River, near the township of Collingullie. The road is owned and maintained by Wagga Wagga City Council.
In addition to being a constraint to river flows, the road has been inundated on several occasions over recent years by flows from the Murrumbidgee River system.
Flows of 35,000 ML/day (5.51 m) at Wagga Wagga see water beginning to cross over the southern section of the road, requiring traffic control and reducing traffic to a single lane. At 44,000 ML/day (6.44 m) at Wagga Wagga, the road is closed causing detours of up to 50 km for local traffic.
This negatively impacts the communities relying on the road to get to work, get their kids to school and manage their business/farming operations.
Upgrading this section of road will protect against high river flows and provide substantial benefit to the local community, due to less disruption.
Due to the social, economic and environmental importance of the road, it is being prioritised for upgrade, separate to the wider Reconnecting River Country Program, by December 2026.
Project scope
The southern section of Mundowy Lane will be upgraded to a level preventing inundation during flows up to 45,000 ML/day at Wagga Wagga.
New culverts will be placed under the roadway, with minor raising over 2 sections of approximately 400 m in length. This will allow the passage of higher flows through the culverts, reducing the risk of damage to the road and mitigating impacts to adjacent properties.
Works to ensure access to properties during flows up to 45,000 ML/day will also be provided.
The project is fully funded by the Australian Government for delivery by December 2026.
Project benefits
The benefits of the project will include:
- improved vehicle access and road safety during high flows
- less overtopping of the road, resulting in less disruption to local communities
- eliminating the need for traffic control and lane closure with flows up to 45,000 ML/day
- less servicing and maintenance of the road and road verges.
Current status
The department’s Water Group is leading the delivery of the project with the involvement of Wagga Wagga City Council.
The majority of the planning and approval activities for the upgrade are now complete. This includes site surveys, hydraulic modelling, geotechnical investigations and road safety audits, as well as environmental and cultural heritage assessments.
During the project’s engagement on the concept design of the road upgrade, landholders and the wider community expressed concern around the potential risk of blockage of the culverts during high flows. In response, the Water Group revised the initial design to incorporate 9 additional culverts in key flow areas, allowing additional flow capacity under the road and reducing the risk of blockage. The addition of these culverts brings the total number of new culverts being installed along the road to 24.
The Water Group is now progressing with the finalisation of detailed designs and the procurement of a construction contractor.
Once construction and commissioning of the road upgrade is complete, Wagga Wagga City Council will continue as the asset owner.
Documents
| Date | Document name |
|---|---|
| 27 November 2025 | Review of Environmental Factors: Mundowy Lane (PDF, 7.17 MB) |
| 01 August 2025 | Business information session, Wagga Wagga (PDF, 4.56 MB) |
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Stakeholder and community engagement
The Water Group is committed to building and maintaining respectful, trusted and collaborative relationships with our communities and stakeholders to ensure water infrastructure projects achieve the best possible outcomes.
We have engaged extensively with surrounding landholders and Wagga Wagga City Council throughout the project’s assessment phase and their feedback helped inform the concept design of the road upgrade. We also sought feedback from the community more widely at drop-in sessions held in Wagga Wagga and Gundagai in July 2025.
Based on the feedback received during these engagements, the number of culverts under the road have been increased to address community concerns.
We will continue to work closely with affected landholders and other stakeholders to understand what needs to be done to deliver the road upgrade, while minimising local impacts, and will continue to keep local communities informed as the project progresses.
Contact us
For more information call us on 1300 081 047 or email us at water.enquiries@dcceew.nsw.gov.au