New South Wales roads minister Jenny Aitchison has announced that new rumble strips will be installed along a 500km stretch of the Mitchell Highway.
Work is underway along the stretch between Orange in the state’s central west and Bourke in the far north-west in order to improve safety along an important freight corridor.
The installation of the rumble strips started in the tiny town of Nyngan in central NSW and is scheduled to continue progressively along the route until May.
“The safety of all road users is our number one priority and rumble strips are a highly effective safety treatment, proven to reduce crashes by 15 to 25 per cent,” Aitchison says.
“The Mitchell Highway is a significant route for NSW travellers and freight operators connecting the central west to the northern region up to the Queensland border.
“Providing that vibration effect if a vehicle leaves its travel lane alerts the driver and provides time for them to correct their path to avoid a serious accident.”
Approximately 800 kilometres of rumble strips will be installed in total across the project, which includes edge and centre lines, and about 300 kilometres of new line marking.
The NSW government advises that there will be impacts to traffic outside of towns where the speed limit is 80 km/h and above, and crews will move frequently along the road corridor with mobile traffic control.
Motorists are being asked to be alert and patient, and slow down when they approach the convoy.
“I welcome Minister Aitchison’s announcement of the installation of rumble strips along the Mitchell Highway between Orange and Bourke, commencing this week,” says minister for Orange, Phil Donato.
“Fatigue is often a contributing factor in serious collisions on country roads, and rumble strips will be an important safety upgrade to help decrease the incidence of fatal and other serious motor vehicle collisions on this busy route.”
The Orange to Bourke project is part of the NSW government’s $46 million Saving Lives accelerated Program to install rumble strips on key regional and rural routes in the three years to 2026.