Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the vital nature of Black Spot Program (BSP) funding in reducing death and serious injury on Australian roads;

(2) recognises that BSP projects target those road locations where crashes are occurring, which are a major cost to Australians every year;

(3) commends the Government for its extensive commitment to road safety through infrastructure investment, by providing $1.1 billion to the BSP from 2013-14 to 2023-24, with an ongoing commitment of $110 million each year following; and

(4) acknowledges research from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics that the Government's BSP reduces death and serious injury from crashes by 30 per cent, on average at treated sites.

This motion speaks to the importance of the black spot road funding program and its focus on reducing death and serious injury on Australian roads. It recognises, through these projects, the target road locations where crashes are occurring, because we know there are major costs each and every year in deaths and injuries. Over the past nine months of this year in Queensland alone the death toll has climbed significantly. Almost every day you can pick up the newspaper and see a report of somebody dying on our roads.

This important program has had some outstanding results, and it continues to do so. The government, through its extensive commitment to road safety and investment infrastructure, has provided some $1.1 billion to the Black Spot Program from 2013-14 to 2023-24 and, in addition, an ongoing commitment of $110 million each year following that. This is included in our $110 billion long-term infrastructure spending plans. It also notes that the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics shows the government's black spot road funding program reduces death and serious injury from crashes by 30 per cent at sites where these programs have occurred.

These investments continue to show the importance of investing in our local communities. I'm pleased to note, as I look around my electorate of Forde, the number of projects that have resulted in significant upgrades and improvements to various intersections. Overall, to date, there have been some 2,739 projects over the life of the program: in New South Wales some 926, Victoria 626, Queensland 440, Western Australia 319, South Australia 201, Tasmania 147, Northern Territory 49 and ACT 31. In my electorate of Forde, over $2½ million dollars of funding was recently allocated to provide major safety upgrades at four locations. At the intersection of Mandew Street and Leda Drive at Shailer Park, $120,000 will be invested to install six-aspect right turn lights, amend the traffic signals, install CCTV for traffic management, signalise the left slip lane into Mandew Street and adjust the pedestrian ramps. At the intersection of Chambers Flat Road, Pleasant View Road and Kenny Road at Chambers Flat, $400,000 will be invested to install a new advisory 60-kilometre kerb warning sign, some new pavement, chevron markers along the curve, vehicle-activated signs, and guideposts.

Next are two really important upgrades, given these are very, very busy intersections that are only going to get busier with the residential and industrial development in these areas. The intersection of Park Ridge Road, Clarke Road and Lindenthal Road at Park Ridge will have a $955,000 upgrade to signalise that intersection to include a controlled right turn, to maintain the slip lanes and to reduce the speed limit through the intersection. That intersection now services a big new industrial estate, as well as the growing residential developments in that area, and will be of critical importance to safety. The intersection of Chambers Flat Road and School Road at Park Ridge will receive a $1.1 million investment to signalise that intersection to exclude a filter right turn from Chambers Flat Road into School Road. The use of that intersection over the last few years has grown, given the local residential developments. The upgrade of Chambers Flat Road through that area has also yet to be completed, which will make an enormous change.

These major upgrades under the Black Spot Program will help ensure that my constituents can travel safely through my electorate with a reduced risk of death or serious injury. The Black Spot Program makes an important contribution to reducing the national death toll, and I would like to commend this program to the House.

See this speech in context