Barwon South West - Road Safety Program

What we're doing

The Barwon South West region will be made safer thanks to the Road Safety Program, designed to reduce road trauma and save lives.

The Road Safety Program supports the fast roll-out of lifesaving road safety treatments on rural and regional roads and promotes greater protection for vulnerable road users, like cyclists and pedestrians, in urban and peri-urban areas.

The safety upgrades are designed to prevent:

• head-on and run-off road collisions
• intersection collisions
• collisions involving cyclists and pedestrians.

Safety upgrades to prevent head-on and run-off-road collisions 

In 2015, head-on and run-off-road collisions were the most common type of crashes in Victoria, being responsible for about 40 per cent of Victoria’s road deaths and serious injuries.

The treatments in this program include flexible safety barriers, road surface treatments and infrastructure to increase awareness of hazards and improve delineation, at the following locations:

• Great Ocean Road – various locations
• Portland-Nelson Road, Mount Richmond 
• Hamilton Highway, Geelong to Inverleigh 
• Forrest-Apollo Bay Road and Skenes Creek Road, Colac-Otway
• Geelong-Portarlington Road, Moolap
• Corio-Waurn Ponds Road (Melbourne Road) - Broderick Road to Cox Road
• Portland-Nelson Road, Mount Richmond
• Portarlington-Queenscliff Road, Portarlington

Safety upgrades to prevent intersection collisions

Intersections pose a significant safety risk on our road network. With motorists, pedestrians and cyclists making turns and crossing paths, the risk of a crash is very high.

Collisions at intersections have been the cause of an average of 30 per cent of deaths and 42 per cent of serious injuries on Victorian roads over the past five years from January 2015 to December 2019.

High-risk intersections at the locations listed below are being made safer with treatments including new turning lanes, new splitter islands, bell mouth widening, new lights and line marking improvements.

• Anglesea Road and Grossmans Road, Bellbrae
• Princes Highway West and Jubilee Park Road, Allansford
• Barwon Heads Road and Bluestone School Road, Connewarre
• Geelong-Portarlington Road, Point Henry Road & Moolap Station Road 
• Shannon Avenue and Church Street - Belmont-Corio Road (Geelong West)
• Bellarine Highway (Queenscliff) - Henry Street, Hesse Street, Point Lonsdale Road, Fellow Road 

Safety upgrades to prevent collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists

Pedestrians and cyclists are our most vulnerable road users, as they will be exposed to the full force of a crash.

Research shows that if a pedestrian or cyclist is hit by a car travelling at 60km/h they are unlikely to survive. In fact, a pedestrian’s or cyclist’s risk of death or serious injury increases where vehicles are traveling at speeds of 30 km/h and upwards.

We are creating a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists at the locations listed below. Treatments include electronic speed limit signs, pathway connectivity, rail trail and on road cycling paths and audio clicking at traffic lights.

Pedestrian and cyclist areas being treated include:

• Bacchus Marsh Road, Corio Shops to Elcho Drain Line, Lara
• Harrow-Balmoral Road, Balmoral 
• Pakington Street
• Hamilton Highway, Newtown-Whittington Road and Midland Highway (Newtown / Geelong West
• Shannon Avenue and Church Street 
• Belmont-Corio Road (Geelong West) 

Why we're doing it

Infrastructure plays a vital role in preventing serious crashes. It also helps to reduce the severity of crashes when they’re unavoidable.

Mistakes happen, which as humans we can’t always avoid. What we can do is build more forgiving road infrastructure so that when a mistake does happen on the road, it doesn’t cost a life.

Through the Road Safety Program, these upgrades are being delivered by Regional Roads Victoria in partnership with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) as we continue to work to deliver safer, connected journeys in Victoria, while supporting our economic recovery.