A record number of road safety upgrades will get underway in Victoria next year as the state’s 2019 road toll skyrocketed to 246 lives lost.
The Andrew Labor Government is continuing its significant investment into proven safety infrastructure with $226 million of upgrades to begin during 2020, with hundreds of new projects reaching more communities than ever before.
“We’re almost at the end of an absolutely devastating year on our roads, with 246 people losing their lives, countless families missing a loved one at Christmas and friends who will bring in a new year without their mate,” Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC Jaala Pulford said.
“Next year we’ll be reaching more communities than ever before with hundreds of new road safety upgrades getting underway – including more lifesaving barriers on our highest-risk roads.”
Next year more than 340 kilometres of new safety barriers will be installed to prevent head-on and run-off-road crashes – in addition to over 2,300 kilometres of barriers already installed on our highest-risk roads.
Roads around Melbourne set to receive lifesaving barriers next year include Moorooduc Road, the Western Port Highway and the Frankston Freeway – as well regional roads including the Midland Highway near Buninyong and Shepparton, Fyansford-Gheringhap Road in the south-west, and the Murray Valley Highway near Lake Boga.
An additional 1,600 kilometres of rumble strip line-marking will be rolled out across the state to alert drivers if they begin to accidentally veer out of their lane.
“We’re rolling out these safety upgrades, like the barriers here in Kalkallo, because we know they save lives,” Member for Yuroke Ros Spence said.
Around 117 rural intersections will be made safer with improvements such as rumble strips, signage and line-marking, while more Side Road Activated Speed technology will be installed at the highest-risk sites to slow vehicles down to a safer speed while someone is waiting to turn onto the main road.
Drivers and pedestrians in Melbourne will be safer with the introduction of fully controlled right turns at the traffic lights at 12 intersections to prevent risky turns across traffic, or while pedestrians are still crossing.
Local roads will also be made safer at 15 regional towns with funding provided to councils for improvements including speed humps, small roundabouts and intersection upgrades, while another 90 towns will receive eye-catching signs and line-marking at entrances to remind drivers they are entering a town and need to slow down.
All these upgrades are part of the $1.4 billion Towards Zero Road Safety Strategy.
