Safety upgrade for dangerous Sunbury Rd behind Melbourne Airport
NOTORIOUS Sunbury Rd will be widened and rope barriers installed as part of a $5.4 million safety upgrade.
North West
Don't miss out on the headlines from North West. Followed categories will be added to My News.
NOTORIOUS Sunbury Rd will be widened and rope barriers installed as part of a $5.4 million safety upgrade.
The barriers will be installed on the centre and sides of the road between Tullamarine Freeway and Oaklands Rd through funding from the $1.1 billion Towards Zero Strategy.
Sunbury state Labor MP Josh Bull said the investment came after there were 13 crashes on the road in the five years to 2014.
RELATED: Council asks police to step up Sunbury Rd patrols
RELATED: Sunbury Rd speed limit reduced
Those collisions included a head-on crash resulting in a fatality, seven crashes resulting in serious injuries and five more causing injuries.
There are 21,000 vehicles using the road every day.
“We’re getting on with these important safety works to prevent crashes on this busy stretch of Sunbury Rd,” Mr Bull said.
“Everybody makes mistakes, but they shouldn’t have to pay for these with their life. These works to Sunbury Rd will help to make sure everyone gets home safely.”
Sunbury councillor Jack Medcraft, who has campaigned for safety upgrades on the road over several years, said he had almost been involved in two head-on collisions while driving on that section of Sunbury Rd.
He has taken to Melbourne radio speaking out about how dangerous the road is.
“In the 25 years I have lived in Sunbury, I could think of nine fatalities on the road off the top of my head and they have all been the same type of accidents, a head on or a U-turn into traffic,” he said.
“This is very good news. I’m very happy, it’s been a long time coming.”
Works will begin later this month and are expected to be completed by the middle of 2018.
TAC and VicRoads are joint partners in the State Government’s Towards Zero strategy which aims to bring fatalities figures on Victorian roads to less than 200 a year, while also reducing serious injuries by 15 per cent.
Wire barriers are an important tool in the strategy with studies suggesting they can reduce head-on and run-off crashes by 85 per cent.
Ultimate club-by-club NPL Victoria season preview
The NPL Victoria season is officially underway. Check out all the ins and outs and star players at every club. Plus, our premiership predictions for the NPL and VPL seasons.
Why a northern suburbs shopping centre is unbearably hot
Customers and staff at a major Melbourne shopping say they are “fainting” and “vomiting” as they endure extreme heat and a broken air con system management has failed to fix.