Works ramp up on 400km worth of road safety upgrades in regional SA

Over 400 kilometres’ worth of regional South Australian roads will receive safety upgrades starting this month as part of the Australian and State Governments’ COVID stimulus and road safety projects. 

Throughout this month, about 15 projects with a combined value of more than $100 million got underway across regional South Australia. 

“These projects span the vast majority of the state, with works kicking off on the Eyre and Yorke peninsulas, the state's Far North, Mid North, Limestone Coast and Kangaroo Island. 

“The majority of these projects have been fast-tracked thanks to the recently announced $104.6 million first tranche of the Road Safety Program for South Australia, which is jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian Governments on an 80:20 basis. 

“It's great to see South Australia already making the most of this allocated funding by forging ahead with these important road safety improvements,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said. 

The projects involve a range of upgrades at targeted high-priority locations across the State, including: 

• Yorke Peninsula improvements: 
  • Spencer Highway / Yorke Highway and Minlaton Road / Maitland Road – 79 kilometres combined of shoulder sealing, pavement rehabilitation, audio tactile line marking 
  • Upper Yorke Road – 14 kilometres combined of shoulder sealing, lane widening, audio tactile line marking, and resurfacing works 
  • Copper Coast Highway – Eight kilometres combined of essential road resurfacting and asphalt rehabilitation 
• Eyre Highway: 65 kilometres of shoulder sealing, lane widening and guidepost installation 
• Tod Highway: 4 kilometres of shoulder sealing, lane widening and guidepost installation 
• Birdseye Highway: 40 kilometres of shoulder sealing, lane widening and guidepost installation 
• Stuart Highway: 40 kilometres of pavement widening, shoulder sealing and resurfacing works. This project forms part of the South Australian Government's commitment to raising the speed limit on eight country roads, jointly funded (80:20) by the Australian and South Australian governments as part of the Rural Road Safety Package 
• Horrocks Highway: 20 kilometres (over two separate projects) of shoulder sealing and/or pavement rehabilitation 
• Karoonda Highway: 16 kilometres of micro-surfacing to fill wheel ruts on the road surface 
• Barrier Highway: 14.5 kilometres combined of road widening and shoulder sealing along the approaches of Mount Bryan and Hallett 
• Playford Highway: culvert extension and shoulder widening 

“The Road Safety Program funding is being tipped into shovel-ready projects to get the best bang for buck,” SA Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Corey Wingard said. 

According to Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz, these projects were made possible with funding from both the $52 million Regional Road Network Package as well as $104.6 million first tranche of Road Safety Program. 

“These projects are a great opportunity to make our roads safer, create jobs and keep the economy firing after a hard year. 

“The Australian Government's funding for the Road Safety Program is subject to ‘use it or lose it’ provisions and will deliver life-saving treatments on regional roads across SA while also supporting local jobs and providing a welcome boost to local economies. 

“The ‘use it or lose it’ provisions require states and territories to use their notionally allocated funds within a timeframe, or the funds can be reallocated to projects in other jurisdictions,” Mr Buchholz said. 

The projects also include 51 kilometres of resealing works that are about to commence on Browns Well Highway. 

Sealing works will also be getting underway on a 20-kilometre section of Kempe Road, north east of Coober Pedy. These works are part of a project that will deliver 37 kilometres’worth of improvements that commenced in March 2021. 

The Australian and South Australian Governments are jointly funding this project through the Asset Improvement – Rural and Remote Program and the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program. 

Source: Premier of South Australia – Media Releases; Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development