People walking, riding and driving into towns across Western Victoria will be safer with improvements rolling out at town entrances thanks to the Andrews Labor Government.
Minister for Roads and Road Safety Jaala Pulford said that ‘gateway improvements’ including eye-catching signage and unique road markings were being installed at town entrances as part of an $8 million investment to increase safety for regional Victorians.
Improvements are being installed across the Central Goldfields, Pyrenees, Northern Grampians and Hepburn Shires at Creswick, Daylesford, Hepburn Springs, Clunes, Trentham, St Arnaud, Halls Gap, Avoca, Beaufort, Carisbrook, Dunolly and Buninyong.
These improvements are proven to increase safety by providing a visual reminder to drivers that they’re entering a town, ultimately boosting compliance with reduced speed limits and driver alertness.
Similar community gateway upgrades have already reduced crashes by 26 to 35 per cent in towns in New Zealand and around 300 gateway locations will be rolled out across Victoria, including 39 sites across western Victoria.
The road safety upgrades are part of the $1.4 billion Towards Zero Action Plan and is being delivered in partnership between the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and VicRoads.
The Towards Zero Action Plan aims to reduce the number of lives lost on our roads to 200 or fewer and decrease serious injuries by 15 per cent by 2020.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Roads and Minister for Road Safety and the TAC Jaala Pulford
“These small changes will make a big difference to regional communities – boosting the safety of people driving, riding and walking across Western Victoria.”
“It’s vital that drivers are aware of the reduced speed limit when travelling through our regional townships – which is why we’re delving these community gateway upgrades.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020