Important review leads to real action to support greater road safety and road user experiences on WA's road network.
In late 2020, the Minister for Transport initiated a Regional Roadworks Signage Review to help enhance safety and improve road user experiences through roadworks. The review was undertaken by an independent industry based stakeholder reference group and considered how temporary traffic signage at roadworks sites are installed, secured and managed in regional areas. During the review process, feedback was sought through 16 community meetings and more than 350 responses were received on the MySay Transport Portal.
The final report identified 13 recommendations focusing on providing changes and improvements to address the concerns identified by the community. The government accepted all the findings and tasked us with deploying the recommendations which were grouped into these themes:
- Road user and road worker safety
- Education, training and support
- Accountability for drivers as well as road and traffic managers/planners
- Technology
- Signage integrity and legibility
- Compliance and enforcement
- Implementation.
The recommendations are underpinned by 21 actions of which seven were considered immediate and have now all been completed. The remaining 14 will be completed by the end of 2023. As a result of the review, we have improved safety for our road workers by removing the stop/slow baton use on all state roads, with minor exceptions. In their place we have mandated the use of portable traffic control devices to stop and control traffic through worksites.
Another outcome resulted in working with WALGA on the “Be our eyes on the road campaign”. This campaign encourages the community to report fallen, damaged or missing road signs, faulty traffic lights and road surface issues at any time to our customer contact centre.
If you see anything call 138 138 or visit our website and complete a fault report, and help us to keep our roads safer for everyone.