Midland Highway upgrade underway

Work is underway on a major upgrade to the Midland Highway between Ballarat and Creswick, turning the notorious stretch of road into one of the region’s safest.

Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan joined Member for Wendouree Sharon Knight near Ballarat today, where the Victorian Government’s $12 million safety upgrade is creating more than 50 local jobs.

Eleven kilometres of the Midland Highway will be upgraded with flexible safety barriers, three new roundabouts at Millers Road, Cummins Road and Kennedys Road, as well as new overtaking lanes and wider road shoulders.

These improvements will save lives, reducing the risk and severity of crashes at intersections and preventing vehicles from crashing head-on and into roadside hazards like trees.

This road has seen 19 crashes in the five-year period up to December 2015. Tragically, three people lost their lives, with a further ten receiving serious injuries.

The Victorian Government is investing $1 billion to improve safety on high-risk arterial roads, rolling out more than 2,000 kilometres of flexible safety barriers across the state.

The project is being delivered as part of the Victorian Government’s Towards Zero Road Safety Strategy in partnership with the Transport Accident Commission and VicRoads.

“Everyone makes mistakes on the road, but no one should die because of them,” said Mr. Donnellan.

“That’s why we’re investing $1 billion in life saving infrastructure like flexible safety barriers.”

“We’re rolling out 23km of these lifesaving flexible safety barriers between Ballarat and Creswick to stop run-off road crashes and keep people safe.”

“This $12 million upgrade will transform this 11 kilometre section of the Midland Highway into one of the safest roads in Victoria,” said Ms. Knight.

“The majority of lives lost on regional Victorian roads are the result of a head-on crash or a vehicle running off the road,” said CEO Transport Accident Commission Joe Calafiore.

“Improvements such as these will drastically reduce the number of people being killed and seriously injured on our roads.”