South Australia begins 400km of road safety upgrades

Upgrades on over 400 kilometres of South Australian regional roads are beginning this month, as part of the road safety and COVID stimulus projects funded by federal and state governments.

Construction will start with 15 separate projects collectively worth over $100 million.

Michael McCormack, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development said, “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.”

According to a statement released by McCormack, the projects have been fast tracked due to the announcement of the first $104.6 million portion of the South Australian Road Safety Program. This program is funded by the state and federal government on an 80:20 basis.

Corey Wingard, South Australia’s Minister for Infrastructure and Transport said that the projects receiving these upgrades are target high-priority locations.

Works on the new $62.5 million Barrier Highway are also underway as part of the Roads of Strategic Importance (ROSI) initiative which looks to increase productivity in vehicles through improved access requirements.

Scott Buchholz, Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport said these works have also been made possible due to funding from the $52 million Regional Road Network Package and $104.6 million first tranche of the Road Safety Program.

The works beginning in April 2021 and aided by the Roads Safety Program and Regional Road Network Package are:

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: 5 kilometres combined of road widening and shoulder sealing along the approaches of Mount Bryan and Hallett.
Playford Highway: culvert extensions and shoulder widening