- More Regional Road Safety Program projects
funded in Great Southern
- Four more projects will commence later this year
- New projects will see more than 114km of roads
upgraded with safety treatments
- More than 600km of road network in Great
Southern now upgraded through program
The
State Labor Government is continuing its significant road safety investment in
the Great Southern, with four more projects scheduled to commence under the
landmark $1 billion Regional Road Safety Program (RRSP) later this year.
Since
the RRSP was established in 2020 more than 600km of the State road network in
the Great Southern has received safety upgrades such as sealed shoulders or
audible edge lines.
This
includes large sections of Albany Highway, Muir Highway, Great Southern
Highway, South Western Highway, South Coast Highway and Chester Pass Road.
The
installation of these low-cost safety treatments is helping reduce the number
of single vehicle run-off road crashes – one of the leading causes of death and
serious injury on regional roads.
Around
$21 million is being invested to deliver the four new projects including:
- 48km of sealed shoulders and audible edge lines
on Muir Highway
- 34km of sealed shoulders and audible edge lines
on Albany Highway
- 28km of sealed shoulders and audible edge lines
on Albany Lake Grace Road
- Four kilometres of audible edge lines on
Donnybrook Kojonup Road
Last
year saw a 28 per cent reduction in the number of people killed on regional
roads compared to 2022 and represented the lowest number of deaths in a decade.
The
Regional Road Safety Program is jointly funded by the State and Commonwealth
Governments.
Comments attributed to Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
"The Regional Road Safety
Program is a landmark initiative that is delivering critical safety upgrades to
the State's regional road network, especially in the Great Southern region.
"We know single vehicle run off
road crashes are one of the leading cause of deaths on regional roads in
Western Australia and this program is helping to combat this issue.
"We are all susceptible to
lapses in concentration but by installing low-cost safety treatments like
audible edge lines and sealed shoulders we're providing drivers with additional
safety nets in the unlikely event if they veer off the road.
"We saw last year a significant
decline in the number of people killed on regional roads, which is a really
strong indicator the investment we are making is having a real impact."
Comments attributed to Road
Safety Minister David Michael:
"These initiatives are very important given that
regional road users are historically overrepresented in our crash statistics.
"There is no question that these improvement to our
regional roads are effective. Research by the Curtin-Monash Accident Research
Centre found sealing of road shoulders and installation of audible edge lines
(rumble strips) were highly effective overall, significantly reducing crash
rates by 58 per cent and casualty crashes by 79 per cent.
"This is a great example of this Government taking
an evidenced-based approach to making our roads safer."
