Safety upgrades will soon be underway on a stretch of the Mitchell Highway that has claimed at least eight lives in the last six years.
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Work on the 14-kilometre section of road west of Trangie will begin on January 22, with the Roads and Maritime Services set to install 2.4 kilometres of wire rope on the road edge in strategic locations.
Where the wire rope fencing is not installed, trees within nine metres of the road will be cleared to improve driver visibility.
Narromine Shire Mayor Craig Davies welcomed the upgrades. He said “40-odd” people had died on the section of road in 40 years, and “something had to be done”.
“Fatigue is the major issue when it comes to fatalities that have occurred out here,” councillor Davies said.
“It is very devastating and generally it has been people from outside our area, but the impact is no less on the people around here, who tend to be the first responders to these situations.
“We just want to see a situation whereby … people are made more aware of the fact that this is a very high incident area and as much can be done to reduce the fatalities along this stretch as possible.”
The $2.9 million upgrades have been funded under the NSW government’s Safer Roads Program.
“Changed traffic conditions will be in place including single lane closures in the work area for the safety of workers and motorists,” Dubbo MP Troy Grant said.
“Motorists should … allow extra travel time and follow the direction of all signs, including a reduced speed limit of 40 kilometres per hour.”
It’s not the first time safety upgrades have been carried out on the notorious stretch of road. In June 2017, audio tactile lines were installed to prevent people veering off the road.
The section of highway has claimed at least four lives in two crashes since the start of 2016, with fatigue blamed for both incidents. Another person was seriously injured in 2015, NSW Centre for Road Safety data reveals, and two people were seriously injured in separate crashes in 2013.
“People have just got to be mindful of the fact that when they do drive and they’re tired, they need to stop,” Cr Davies said.
“Get out, have a walk around – do whatever is necessary – but when they’re tired they must stop.
“Education has got to come into play and if that means signs at either end of this stretch alerting people to the fact that it is a very high fatality area then maybe that’s the next step. This area has just claimed so many lives.”
The safety upgrades will be carried out on weekdays from 7am to 6pm and from 7am to 4pm on Saturdays, weather permitting. The work is set to be completed in June next year.
