As part of its 2034-25 Black Spot Program, the Federal Government is investing $33.3 million to improve safety at 56 known crash sites across Victoria.
The Black Spot Program funds a range of safety measures at locations where serious crashes have occurred or are at risk of occurring.
Safety measures being implemented under this latest round of funding include traffic lights, safety barriers, roundabouts, line marking and pedestrian safety treatments. It is hoped that these projects will make an important contribution towards reducing serious injuries and deaths on Victorian roads and build on previous investments across the state.
The Federal Government has substantially increased Black Spot Program funding, which is progressively rising from $110 million to $150 million per year.
This is part of the government’s response to the worsening road toll which includes doubling Roads to Recovery funding from $500 million to $1 billion a year and delivering a nationally harmonised set of high-quality and timely data to inform road safety decision making.
Projects being funded this round include:
- $1,365,000 for Eramosa Road and Graf Road in Somerville to install area-wide 40km/h speed with associated signs and 40km/h pavement markings as well as implementing speed reduction traffic management treatments
- $1,376,000 for Calder Highway and Belar Avenue in Irymple to widen the road and install a painted separator between the through lane and left turn lane as well as reconstructing the intersection pavement and installing safety barriers to shield power poles
- $1,224,000 for MacArthur Street and Lansdowne Street in Sale to install a single lane roundabout, including pedestrian and cycling facilities
Federal Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Carol Brown, said that she is pleased to announce this latest round of Black Spot projects in Victoria, which will improve roads across the state.
“Every death on Victorian roads is a tragedy and could have been avoided,” Ms Brown said.
“Local communities know where their most dangerous road locations are and their ability to nominate projects under this program and work with state and local experts in reviewing nominations is why this program is so successful.
“With the recent announcement of our increased commitment to this long-running program, I strongly encourage individuals, organisations, and local governments to nominate sites in their local communities for consideration in the next round of funding.”
Victorian Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne, said that the Victorian Government welcomes this $33 million investment to improve the safety of sites right across the state to ensure more Victorians can get home to their loved ones safely.
“We’ve identified and assessed spots right across our state – this program will upgrade sites ranging from Mildura and Shepparton right down to Gippsland and our Surf Coast,” Ms Horne said.
Federal Member for Bendigo and Chair of the Victorian Black Spot Consultative Panel, Lisa Chesters, said that the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics has found that Black Spot projects reduce the number of crashes causing death and injury by 30 per cent on average.
“At these 56 sites, we’ve seen 300 crashes occur in the five years to 2021. These figures make a clear case for the safety improvements that we’re announcing today,” Ms Chesters said.
“I know there is more work to be done and encourage anyone who knows of a dangerous road location near them to consider submitting a nomination for future funding rounds.”
Maroondah Council Mayor, Kylie Spears, said that, on behalf of the Maroondah community, she is extremely pleased that the busy local intersection in East Ringwood will receive Black Spot funding.
“Council is pleased that its advocacy, and project design, which addresses the community’s safety concerns, has been supported by the Australian and Victorian governments and we look forward to implementing the signalisation of this intersection to significantly improve pedestrian and vehicle safety.”
Image: Rusty Todaro/shutterstock.com
