Truckies can expect more lane closures and reduced speed limits on sections of the Pacific Highway from next week as 545km of rumble strips are installed north from Karuah over the next five months.
From Tuesday, June 10, crews will start work on two sections of the highway. Section one covers 143km from Karuah to Frederickton, where 251km of strips will be installed along the dual carriageway.
Section two is from Collombatti to Maclean, where 294km of the rumble strips, which are also known as audio tactile line marking (ATLM), will be installed over 114km of the highway.
Lane closures and a reduced speed limit of 40km/h will be in place during the work which is expected to be finished in November.
Transport for NSW Regional Director North Anna Zycki said ATLM helps to alert drivers if their vehicle starts to veer out of their lane, dramatically cutting the risk of head-on and run-off-road crashes .
“Audio tactile line-marking is a proven safety treatment that can reduce the number of crashes by 15 to 25 per cent, saving lives and preventing injuries on our roads,” Zycki said.
“When ATLM is installed, if a vehicle leaves its lane for any reason such as fatigue, distraction or inattention, the rumble strips vibrate and make a noise that immediately alerts the driver to correct their path and avoid a serious accident.
“This means they are particularly effective at night or in bad weather.”
Zycki said the rumble strips are installed down the centre and on the road edges of the highway in speed zones of 80km/h and above, except for townships and sections of road within 200 metres of homes.
“The Pacific Highway is one of the state’s most important and busiest roads, connecting towns and cities from Sydney to the Queensland border,” Zycki said.
“It is a key freight route, as well as catering to local and interstate traffic, so this work will deliver significant benefits to all road users.”
Crews will be working on three different sections of the highway from 6am to 6pm Monday to Saturdays. Some work may be carried out at night between 8pm and 4am.
Work to install the ATLM on the Pacific Highway is being delivered under the NSW Government’s Saving Lives Accelerated Program.
The NSW Government has committed $46 million over three years to install rumble strips and enhance line markings on key regional routes.
More than 2700km of rumble strips – the equivalent of driving from Sydney to Adelaide and back again – will be installed along regional NSW highways to combat driver fatigue and save lives on country roads.
That is all very nice, but it would help a lot more if white lines were replaced with bright yellow so they can be seen a lot clearer at night facing oncoming traffic and dreadful weather; I contacted the roads mob on numerous occasions and the worst excuse they could think of was that yellow is more expensive than white paint.