Transport for NSW has responded to industry criticism following last week’s unveiling of a new heavy vehicle safety station in Dubbo.
After first being announced in 2023, the new site has now officially opened at a spot 5.5km east of Ballimore between Dubbo and Dunedoo along the Golden Highway.
It was originally slated to be $7 million courtesy of federal and NSW government funding, but a budget estimate meeting on April 1 saw the final price unveiled as $11 million.
In response, popular truck driver and former National Road Freighters Association (NRA) president Rod Hannifey labelled the station as being “in the middle of nowhere” and said you can only fit a couple of trucks in the space.
“The roads around it are some of the worst I’ve driven on in the past 12 months, that money could’ve been better spent saving someone’s life by fixing roads,” he says.
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“I thought the $7 million budget was completely ridiculous, but the $11 million price tag has me wanting justification that it’s good value for money.”
In response, a Transport for NSW spokesperson says the station was developed in consultation with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), who will operate the site, and representatives from the heavy vehicle industry.
The explanation for the additional spend required for the project is for compliance technology.
“The initial budget of $7 million provided for the work carried out on site. An additional $4 million funded the infrastructure and technology to support heavy vehicle compliance monitoring, bringing the total investment to $11 million jointly funded by the Australian ($3.7 million) and NSW ($7.3 million) governments,” the spokesperson told OwnerDriver.
“The infrastructure and technology to support heavy vehicle compliance monitoring includes the weighbridge, office and amenities, lighting for night work, electronic speed reduction to 80 km/h, electronic station open/closed signage, electronic vehicle must enter signage and highway avoidance cameras.
“The facility has been made available to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) who have been installing their IT network and preparing for operations.”
Regarding the location, the spokesperson says the Ballimore site was selected due to the Golden Highway being a key regional route that links the New England Highway in the Hunter Valley to the Newell Highway at Dubbo.
Now operational, the spokesperson says the station will facilitate the enforcement of heavy vehicles travelling this route, reducing heavy vehicle overloading, fatigue-related heavy vehicle crashes and the risk of non-compliant vehicles travelling to Dubbo.
“Since the station began operating on Tuesday April 29, there have been 41 vehicle checks to date, with two compliance breaches and 11 defects reported,” the spokesperson says.
“One driver was found to be driving with a disqualified licence and the matter was referred to NSW Police.”
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