Shovels are hitting the ground on more than 400 kilometres worth of road safety upgrades across regional South Australia this month, as works ramp up on the Australian and South Australian Governments' COVID stimulus and road safety projects.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said 15 separate projects collectively worth more than $100 million are getting underway across regional South Australia throughout April 2021.
"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 Deputy Prime Minister said.
"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 its allocated funding by forging ahead with these important road safety improvements."
South Australia's Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Corey Wingard said the projects involved a range of upgrades and were targeted at high-priority locations.
"The Road Safety Program funding is being tipped into shovel-ready projects to get the best bang for buck," Minister Wingard said.
"For example, it's assisting with new road widening and shoulder sealing works on the Barrier Highway, on the southern approach to Mount Bryan and northern approach to Hallett, as well as asphalt rehabilitation works that have been under way between the two townships since March 2021.
"In addition to the Road Safety Program works, the $62.5 million new Barrier Highway works are being delivered as part of the Roads of Strategic Importance (ROSI) initiative, which is aimed at improving access requirements for higher productivity vehicles.
"We also have a wide array of works kicking off across the Yorke Peninsula in April, including on the Copper Coast Highway, Spencer Highway, Yorke Highway, Minlaton Road, Maitland Road and Upper Yorke Road."
Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz said these works have been made possible thanks to funding from both the $52 million Regional Road Network Package and $104.6 million first tranche of the 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," Mr Buchholz said.
"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."
Works getting under way throughout April 2021, with funding assistance from the Road Safety Program and the Regional Road Network Package include:
- 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 resurfacing and asphalt rehabilitation.
- Eyre Highway: 65 kilometres of shoulder sealing, lane widening and guidepost installation
- Tod Highway: 44 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 road rehabilitation and resurfacing works.
- Ngarkat Highway: 21 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 Roads Safety Package.
- Horrocks Highway: 20 kilometres (over two separate projects) of shoulder sealing and/or pavement rehabilitation.
- Karoonda Highway: 16 lane 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 extensions and shoulder widening.
In addition to these works, 51 kilometres of resealing works are starting on Browns Well Highway.
Sealing works are also starting on a 20-kilometre section of Kempe Road directly north-east of Coober Pedy, as part of a project to deliver 37 kilometres of improvements that began in March 2021.
The project is jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian governments via the Asset Improvement - Rural and Remote Program and the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program.
