The New South Wales Government is investing $202 million to deliver safety upgrades across regional, rural and remote parts of the state.
Delivered as part of the New South Wales Government’s $2.8 billion road safety budget, round two of the Towards Zero-Safer Roads Program will support 72 separate road safety projects.
Despite regional communities only accounting for a third of the state’s population, tragically, deaths on regional roads make up approximately two thirds of all road deaths.
The Towards Zero – Safer Roads Program, is a road safety infrastructure upgrade and speed management program aimed at delivering sustainable and long-term reduction in road trauma across the New South Wales road network by addressing high risk locations.
The vital upgrades made through this program are expected to prevent over 2,000 fatal or serious injuries caused by vehicle crashes over the life of the program.
Upgrades to improve safety may include, installing safety barriers and shoulder widening to help reduce the risk of crashes on higher speed country roads.
The New South Wales Government is continuing work to deliver on the 2026 Road Safety Action Plan, which targets to halve deaths and reduce serious injuries by 30 per cent from 2018-2020 levels by 2030.
This work has included:
- Hosting the state’s first Road Safety Forum; bringing international and Australian road safety experts, advocates for motorists and road traffic victims, academics as well as federal and state stakeholders together with a focus on reducing road trauma in New South Wales
- Delivering $41 million, under round one of the Towards Zero- Safer Roads Program, allowing prioritised planning of 27 projects, and the completion of a further 11 safety projects in regional New South Wales
- Using cameras to enforce seatbelt laws
- Commencing the doubling of roadside enforcement sites used for mobile speed cameras, with the addition of 2,700 new sites where a camera can be deployed
- Delivering the demerit return trial that rewarded more than 1.2 million drivers for maintaining a spotless driving record during the initial 12-month period up to 16 January 2024
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, said, “It’s important the government also does everything we can to make our roads as safe as possible for those travelling on them.
“Regional New South Wales is a beautiful place, whether someone is visiting for a weekend, or is an engrained member of the community, we want to ensure when they get in their car, they know they are safe on our state’s roads.”
Jenny Aitchison, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads said: “With $202 million to target and improve safety on roads in our regional areas, lives will be saved.
“These upgrades will make our roads safer for all road users, locals and visitors, and this investment will go a long way towards achieving the goal of ensuring everyone gets home safely every time to their loved ones.
“The projects under this program vary in size, location and cost, but the really important thing they have in common is that they will all improve the safety of the people driving on them.”
A full list of regional road safety upgrades to be delivered under this funding can be found here.
Image: TonyNg/shutterstock.com
