SA receives $52.7M for thirteen road safety projects
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Thanks to a $52.7 million package, thirteen new road safety projects spanning 570 kilometres will be fast-tracked across South Australia.
South Australian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Corey Wingard revealed that the projects involved a range of shovel-ready upgrades. These upgrades will be quickly delivered in order to help save more lives at targeted high-priority locations across the state.
“Upgrades include delivering much-needed road widening, shoulder sealing, new barriers, rumble strips to alert drivers they are moving out of their lane and wide centreline treatments on high-risk roads across the state,” Minister Wingard said.
“Our governments are working hand in hand to make our roads safer, while supporting employment in regional communities, with this second round of funding set to support around 570 jobs over the life of the program of works.”
The $52.7 million package to enable the completion of the upgrades within the 2021–22 financial year builds on the $104.6 million in joint funding under the Road Safety Program to support the accelerated delivery of fifteen projects across the state.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Barnaby Joyce said the Australian Government has committed $3 billion for the nationwide Road Safety Program.
“Our Government is committed to doing its part to keep people safe on our roads, whether it’s just a quick trip to the local shops or a longer journey to visit more distant friends and family,” Minister Joyce said.
“The funding supports the fast roll-out of life-saving safety works on rural and regional roads and is another example of the Australian Government working to reduce the number of Australians missing around the dinner table due to tragedies on our roads.”
Federal Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz said road safety was a key priority for the Australian Government. He also revealed that the Road Safety Program has provided just under $1.5 billion for crucial road improvements and shovel-ready construction activity across Australia.
“Making our roads safer is a critical component of our work to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads and move towards achieving vision zero – that is zero deaths or serious injuries on our roads by 2050,” Assistant Minister Buchholz said.
“We are unwavering in our continued investment in life-saving road safety initiatives, with this additional funding complementing the work of our Black Spot Program, Targeted Road Safety Works initiative and the Road Safety Innovation Fund.”
The Road Safety Program is subject to ‘use it or lose it’ provisions and will deliver life-saving treatments on regional roads and protect vulnerable road users across South Australia. The Program also supports local jobs and providing a welcome boost to local economies.
The Program requires states and territories to use their notionally allocated funds within a certain timeframe or it will be reallocated to projects in other jurisdictions.
SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA RELEASE
Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.
