A NUMBER of safety improvements will be carried out along a notorious stretch of Carpenter Rocks Road in a bid to improve the transport route.
The 4km section just west of Mount Gambier has secured $650,000 in federal funds through the 2019/20 Black Spot Program, with shoulder sealing and delineation upgrades expected to improve road
safety.
The funding has been welcomed by Limestone Coast Local Government Association road safety officer Ali Auld, who said Black Spot Funding was injected into roads with a proven crash history or deemed a high-risk location.
“It is a vital part of the government’s commitment to improving road safety and reducing road crashes and trauma on South Australian roads,” Ms Auld said.
The road safety advocate said one life affected by road trauma was one too many.
“We need to continually challenge the notion of an acceptable road toll and all work together in our state wide aim of ‘toward zero together’,” she said.
“This year to date, 27 of the 44 fatalities in South Australia have occurred on country roads.
“We are all road users and we need to all take the responsibility to stay focused on the roads, look out for each other and drive to the conditions.”
Visiting the stretch of road with state transport minister Stephan Knoll late last week, Member for Barker Tony Pasin said the funding would make the road safer.
“By specifically targeting road locations with a history of crashes like Carpenter Rocks Road unfortunately has, the Black Spot Program reduces crashes causing injury and death at those sites by around 30pc.”
As chair of the state’s Black Spot Consultative panel, Mr Pasin said he and endeavoured to ensure funding is allocated to the most dangerous parts of the South Australian road network.
Under the Nation Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020, the Australian, State and Territory governments have committed to reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries recorded on the nation’s roads by at least 30pc by 2020.
“I am proud to be part of a government that is committed to play its part in getting Australians home safely from every journey on our roads,” Mr Pasin said.
