Princes Highway receives lifesaving safety barriers

Safety barriers have been installed over a 40 km stretch on the Princes Highway in an effort to save lives on the road.

The new wire rope barriers run between Melbourne and Geelong, with another 100 km expected to be installed between Waurn Ponds and Laverton North in the next 12 months.

The Princes Highway West is one of nine divided roads in Victoria to receive new left-hand side and centre median safety barriers, which are proven to save lives.

“We’re rolling out more than 140 km of wire rope barrier on the Princes Highway to stop run-off road crashes and keep people safe on this critical arterial road,” said Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan.

The project is nearing the halfway mark, with work on the Geelong-bound carriageway progressing at a rate of 1 km per day.

In the five years to July 2016 there were more than 60 run-off road crashes, including four fatalities and 33 serious injuries.

The Victorian government is investing $1 billion to improve safety on high-risk arterial roads, rolling out more than 1500 km of wire rope barriers across the state.

The project is being delivered as part of the government’s Towards Zero Road Safety Strategy in partnership with the Transport Accident Commission and VicRoads.

The entire 73 km safety upgrade is expected to be complete by the end of 2018.

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