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Action To Boost Road Safety Along Tyers Road

Member For Morwell, Russell Northe Today Announced $1.7 Million For A Large Scale Safety Overhaul Of Tyers Road, After A String Of Crashes In Recent Years.

By Russell North - 19th November 2014 - Back to News

"Tyers Road can get quite busy, with around two and a half thousand vehicles travelling along it each day, many are heading to and from work, but there are also quite a lot of trucks as well," Mr Northe said.

"VicRoads research has shown that far too many vehicles are straying off the road and crashing along this stretch between Traralgon and Tyers.

"There have been nine crashes in a recent five year period, which saw one person killed, three seriously hurt and eight suffered minor injuries.

"To reduce both the risk and severity of these crashes, there will be multiple approaches to improve road safety.

"Dangerous trees that are too close to the road will be taken down, while a significant amount of safety barriers will be installed to protect drivers from hazards that can’t be removed, like power poles and embankments.

"A large portion of the barriers will be wire rope safety barrier, which is a proven method to help reduce the severity of run-off-road crashes, to help save lives and cut serious injuries on our roads.

"To slow traffic through the most hazardous section of Tyers Road, the current 80km/h speed zone from the outskirts of Traralgon will be extended down the steep hill and sharp curves, until the straight section of road towards Tyers where the speed limit will remain at 100km/h.

"Upgrades will also be made to the road surface on the curved sections, to help vehicles grip to the road and negotiate tight bends, particularly in wet weather," Mr Northe said.

Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips said that the Safer Road Infrastructure Program is funded by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), while VicRoads manages the program.

"The Coalition Government has committed a record $1 billion to Safer Road Infrastructure Program over ten years to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads, with more than $199 million committed so far during 2014 on 188 safety improvement projects across Victoria.

"This important and targeted program is helping us build on the road safety gains of recent years, which has led to successive, record low death tolls, while continuing our focus on reducing serious injuries," Mr Rich-Phillips said.

Works are expected to start on this project in late 2015 and take around six months to complete, with the speed limit reduction component likely to occur this year.

Media contact: 5133 9088

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com