Pace of upgrades accellerated after spike in crashes on one of the nation's busiest highways
March 27, 2013
Work on the $1.68 million upgrade and expansion of the Dominance and Glenrowan rest areas on the Hume Freeway near Wangaratta has been awarded to Global Contracting.
Victorian Nationals MPs Tim McCurdy says the two rest areas are the last of six identified to be upgraded and have additional parking bays installed between Chiltern and Benalla, with work to start after Easter.
“The upgrades to the six rest areas combined will add more than 70 parking bays to the freight corridor between Chiltern and Benalla, improve the amenities for heavy vehicle drivers and will help reduce fatigue-related heavy vehicle crashes.
“Works on the Dominance and Glenrowan rest areas were scheduled for next financial year; however the Coalition Government has brought the works forward in a bid to ease pressure on truck drivers seeking appropriate rest stops in order to comply with the fatigue regulations.”
Nationals Member for Benalla Bill Sykes says the improvements would make our roads safer and help reduce the number of identified risk factors that could lead to truck incidents on the Hume Freeway, such as driver fatigue.
“After a spike in crashes involving trucks on the Hume Freeway last winter, the Minister for Roads, Terry Mulder met with local truck drivers and industry representatives in November 2012 to hear their views on how best to tackle fatigue and improve safety on our major highway,” Sykes says.
“The additional parking bays will help them to manage their fatigue and comply with the fatigue management laws and I welcome the Minister’s ongoing work in this area and the responsiveness of Victoria Police and VicRoads to help address road safety concerns on the Hume Freeway.”
The scheduled works on these last two rest areas has been brought forward and will complete the upgrade and expansion program by the end of this calendar year, six months ahead of schedule, the MPs say.
Chiltern Park and Benton’s Hill rest areas near Chiltern were completed last September and works on the Reef Hills and Mokoan rest areas near Benalla are well underway.
