Kamilaroi Highway $34 million safety upgrades complete

A $34.6 million upgrade on a 17-kilometre stretch of the Kamilaroi Highway has been completed.

Work on an upgrade of the highway between Baan Baa and Turrawan started in December 2019 on the section of road between Narrabri and Gunnedah.

The previous state government cited crash history as the rationale for the highway project when works were announced.

The final safety barriers have been installed to provide protection for motorists leaving the road as well as wide centre lines, audio tactile line marking (rumble strips), widened clear zones and other safety measures to help prevent run-off road and head-on crashes and their severity.

The work was funded by the NSW government through the Safer Roads Program after a 2014 review by the Centre for Road Safety identified speeding and driver fatigue as the major hazards on this section of the highway.

Community consultation after the review identified the need for new overtaking lanes to provide safe passing opportunities for motorists stuck behind slower moving vehicles, easing frustration for all drivers and improving safety. A pull-over bay was constructed for Over Size Over Mass (OSOM) vehicles about 7.5 kilometres north of Baan Baa.

Other safety measures incorporated into the project include a designated school bus stopping and turning bay near the Turrawan Road intersection, 2.5-metre wide sealed shoulders providing more room for vehicles, widened roadside clear zones, raised retroflective pavement markers and flatter roadside batters (or slopes).

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said safety is the number one priority on all NSW roads and the work completed between Baan Baa and Turrawan reflects the government’s commitment to making much-needed improvements wherever they are needed.

“Between July 2012 and October 2019 there were 18 crashes recorded in this area, including four fatal crashes, seven serious injury crashes and four moderate injury crashes,” Ms Aitchison said.

“A high proportion of these crashes were the result of vehicles crossing the centre lines and safety improvements such as these can increase the distance between oncoming traffic and alert drivers when they leave their lane.

“Evidence shows that wire rope barriers can significantly reduce the risk of death and serious injury in crashes because they dissipate the energy of a crash away from people in cars, and because the rope deflects and contains the vehicle from hitting other objects, such as trees and other vehicles.”

State Member for Barwon Roy Butler said this stretch of road sees a lot of heavy vehicles working on the mines, along with a lot of tourists and everyday traffic.

“Work crews have laid 422,589 tonnes of locally-sourced crushed gravel and aggregate to build and seal the full length of highway and installed, laid audio tactile line marking (rumble strips) and installed other safety measures to help prevent run-off road and head-on crashes,” Mr Butler said.

“I welcome any improvements to the road that make it safer and better to drive on.”