Aimed at improving safety on dangerous roads, the Australian Government has revealed exactly where the 2021–22 Black Spot Program funding will go.
NSW will receive $34.4 million in federal funding, with councils and the New South Wales Government contributing a further $2.5 million, which will go towards 97 dangerous crash sites.
Cattai Ridge Road in Glenorie, west of Old Northern Road, will receive the lion’s share of that, with $2 million going towards improving the curved shoulder, installing flexible barriers on the roadside, delineation, street lighting, vehicle-activated signs and shoulder improvements, marking road edge lines and installing audio edge lines and reflective pavement markers.
Other major black spot works for NSW include Jerrara Road, south of Hume Highway in Marulan ($1.371); Mount Keira Road, south of Clive Bissel Drive in Mount Keira ($1.287m); Scotts Head Road grom Giinagay Way to 6km east in Way Way ($1.45m); Wilson Road from 3.5km to 6.8km east of Bowraville in Congarinni North ($1.323m); and upgrades at Yamba Road in Maclean ($1.08m).
Chair of the NSW Black Spot Consultative Panel Dr David Gillespie said, “The high-priority locations we are funding have seen a total of 15 fatal and 584 crashes causing injuries recorded over the past five years.”
In Victoria, 51 black spots will share in $25.8 million in federal funding. A total of 17 fatal and 281 crashes causing injuries were recorded in these locations over the past five years.
Of that funding, $1.9m will be spent on Princes Highway West (Murray Street) in Colac; $1.834m to reduce speed limits on local collector roads in Rye and Tootgarook; $1.622m will go to a 4km section west of Potter Road at Longwarry North; $1.679m to a section of Cape Otway Road in Moriac; $1.316m at Seventeenth Street, Mildura; and $1.447m on Craigie Road and Osborne Drive in Mount Martha.
A total of 34 sites will receive $14.74 million in WA. There were six fatal and 107 crashes causing injuries recorded over the past five years in these areas. The biggest spend projects will be at Canning Road, Carmel; Telegraph Road and Bindi Bindi-Toodyay Road in Toodyay; and South Western Highway from Hynes Road to Martin Pelusey Road in Waterloo; all of which will receive over $1 million for safety upgrades.
There will be 20 sites receiving a share in a $9.27 million cash injection in SA. At these sites, there were four fatal and 126 crashes causing injuries recorded over the past five years. The biggest spend will go to Piggott Range Road and Easton Road in Chandlers Hill ($1.55m); and Naracoorte Road in Keppoch ($1.301m).
And in Tassie, $2.7 million will go towards fixing 13 dangerous crash sites, with councils contributing a further $336,690 to these projects. These sites had three fatal and 21 crashes causing injuries in the last five years. The biggest spend will be at the Huon Highway Southbridge waste transfer station at Huonville, at $700k.
“This major investment is part of the Australian Government’s commitment to building safer roads right across the nation,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Barnaby Joyce.
“The Black Spot Program funds safety measures such as traffic signals and roundabouts at locations where a number of serious crashes are known to have occurred.”