Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke today announced that Canowindra Road and Lachlan Valley Way will benefit from the Saving Lives on Country Roads Program with upgrades kicking off this financial year.
“Country people make up a third of the NSW population, but last year fatalities on country roads made up nearly 70 per cent of the road toll,” Ms Cooke said.
“The shocking truth is that you are four times more likely to be killed on roads in the country compared to people who live in the city.
“The Saving Lives on Country Roads Program aims to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads by addressing high risk curves and installing safety features to prevent driver fatigue and lane departure crashes,” she added.
Canowindra Road has been allocated $630,000 to improve safety on a 2.7 kilometre section of road north of Mount York Road. The project starts at Mount York Road and includes the installation of safety barrier in targeted locations where crashes have occurred in the past.
Between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2016 there were two fatal crashes, two serious injury and two moderate injury crashes on this stretch of road.
The NSW Government announced the new Saving Lives on Country Roads infrastructure upgrade program as part of its Road Safety Plan 2021. In Round One, $50 million has been allocated to deliver 98 priority road safety projects.
The projects in Cootamundra form part of $640 million to deliver safety upgrades on country roads, part of a record $1.9 billion investment to improve road safety in NSW.
The Lachlan Valley Way has also been allocated $600,000 in Round One for development works, with the total improvements across the Cootamundra electorate totalling almost $2 million as a whole.
A second round of infrastructure upgrades will take place next financial year.
Along with these safety works, the Saving Lives on Country Roads advertising campaign continues to be rolled out to encourage drivers to think twice about their behaviour on the road.
The Canowindra Road project is expected to be completed this financial year.
