$58 million boost for regional road safety

22 Oct 2013

The Victorian Coalition Government will invest $1 billion over the next 10 years to significantly upgrade the safety of almost 100 high-risk roads and intersections across Victoria, Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips said today.

Funded through the Transport Accident Commission’s (TAC) Safer Road Infrastructure Program (SRIP), Mr Rich-Phillips together with Minister for Roads Terry Mulder, unveiled the $58 million investment to upgrade 47 regional targeted high-risk locations across Victoria.

Mr Rich-Phillips said this unprecedented $1 billion investment, an increase of more than 30 per cent a year on the previous road safety program, was the centrepiece of the Coalition Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2012-2022 to reduce the road toll.

“Funded through the TAC, Victorian regional roads will significantly benefit from the $58 million SRIP investment in 47 targeted high-risk road projects and will provide the local community with specific and immediate safety benefits,” Mr Rich-Phillips said.

“By increasing funding to $1 billion over the next 10 years, high-risk locations across the state will get safety improvements providing a significant impact towards reducing road trauma.”

The SRIP funding targets heavily-used and crucial road links right across regional Victoria, including safety improvements for sections of the Hume and Princes Freeways as well as the Midland, Bellarine, Bass, Loddon Valley and South Gippsland Highways.

Key safety improvements will also be completed at intersections across the state including Bendigo, Ballarat, Ocean Grove, Lancefield, Wangaratta, Gisborne, Inverloch and Paynesville.

Mr Mulder said the SRIP projects involve infrastructure improvements which reduce the likelihood of ‘run-off road’ crashes and improve conditions at intersections, based on an assessment of crash statistics.

“Some of the improvements include ‘run-off road’ treatments such as installing wire-rope safety barriers and guard rails, shoulder sealing and clearing vegetation,” Mr Mulder said.

“Others are intersection improvements such as new roundabouts, traffic signal and signage upgrades, new line-marking and lighting.

“People in regional and rural Victoria are three times more likely to be involved in road crashes that are fatal and are also 40 per cent more likely to be seriously injured.”

Mr Mulder said an evaluation into the effectiveness of the SRIP program by the Monash University Accident Research Centre indicated that the program is producing a reduction of 31 per cent for all casualty crashes.

“No road deaths or serious injuries – a future where every journey is a safe one, is our ultimate aim,” Mr Mulder said.

“To achieve this, we have adopted the Safe System Philosophy on road safety. This is a holistic method that ultimately aims to eliminate the risk of road deaths or serious injuries by considering the interaction between roads, vehicles, speed and road users.”

SRIP is funded by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and is managed by VicRoads. View a map of Victorian regional and rural SRIP projects here.