Regional Upgrades for Road Safety

The rate of fatalities and serious injuries caused by run-off-road and head-on crashes in regional Western Australia is five times higher than in the Perth metropolitan region.

By July 2022, the Regional Road Safety Program will have invested $455 million in upgrades to almost 7,000 kilometres of regional roads to significantly reduce this crash rate. Audible edge lines, known as rumble strips, will be installed, and shoulders will be sealed to provide a more forgiving road environment.

In the first 12 months of the program, work commenced on more than 4,300 kilometres of road, at a cost of almost $260 million. This initial work includes 120 kilometres on Albany Highway between the metro area and Williams, with an additional 55 kilometres underway south of Williams, and 68 kilometres underway between Cranbrook and Albany.

To the east, more than 260 kilometres of Great Eastern Highway has been upgraded including 90 kilometres between Kellerberrin and Walgoolan and 50 kilometres between Malabine and Cunderdin. Work on more than 700 kilometres of Eyre Highway is also underway, along with 111 kilometres of Brookton Highway, and 50 kilometres of York Merredin Road.

North of Perth, upgrades to more than 1,000 kilometres of Great Northern Highway have commenced across the Mid-West Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley regions along with 78 kilometres of Burkett Road and 65 kilometres of Brand Highway. Almost 100 kilometres of work on Indian Ocean Drive has been completed.

Across the south west, we’re upgrading 170 kilometres of South Western Highway, 58 kilometres of Sues Road, 63 kilometres of Vasse Road, 113 kilometres of Northam Cranbrook Road and 55 kilometres of Albany Lake Grace Road.

In the first six months of 2021–22, almost 2,300 kilometres of roads across Western Australia are scheduled for upgrade, with approximately 1,400 kilometres to be upgraded in the second half of the year. When complete, 57 per cent of the state’s regional road network will be upgraded, all part of a major effort to prevent fatal or serious injury crashes on these roads.