Albany’s Nanarup Road to receive $2m upgrade as part of expanded State Government regional roads program

The State Government’s Regional Road Safety Program is expanding to local government-managed roads, with the City of Albany’s Nanarup Road in line for more than $2 million in upgrades. On Thursday, 27 new projects were announced that included Albany’s Nanarup Road. More than $2m will be invested in sealing shoulders and audible line markings on the road, that stretches from the Lower King Bridge to Nanarup Beach. The highest contribution was $5.3m for Bencubbin Beacon Road in the Shire of Mt Marshall for the same kind of works, with $39m announced over the 27 projects in 20 regional shires. Lower Hotham Road in the Shire of Boddington will get $1.9m to seal shoulders and install audible line markings. The two shires responsible for Broomehill-Kojonup Road received a total of $3.1m for sealing shoulders and to install audible line markings. Local government-managed roads in the regions, called the local government network, accounted for an average of 44 per cent of regional fatalities and serious injuries every year, with the expanded program aiming to improve driver safety on these roads. WA Local Government Association president Karen Chappel said it was time the State Government committed to helping local governments fund road improvements. “WALGA has extensively advocated to both the State and Australian governments calling for co-funding to provide road safety measures to more than 8000km of the regional road network,” she said. “WA local governments manage and are responsible for the WA local government road network, which totals more than 127,900km — that’s around 88 per cent of the road network in WA, and this funding is vital in improving road safety across WA.” The RRSP was established in 2020 with the aim of addressing run-off and head-on road crashes, two of the top causes of serious injuries and deaths on regional roads. Since then, about $1 billion has been invested into more than 10,000km of road with upgrades including shoulder sealing and audible line markings. Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby said investing in upgrades on regional roads was “critical” to making sure drivers stayed safe across WA. “We’re committed to making driving as safe as possible and the expansion of the RRSP to include local roads follows on from the Premier’s road safety summit late last year,” he said. “I am pleased to see additional funding being provided from the Road Trauma Trust Account to deliver proven safety treatments, reducing fatalities and serious injuries on our road network.” The State Government says it plans to invest $125m over the next five years upgrading local government-managed roads.