Shire of Coorow advocate for Indian Ocean Drive to be upgraded alongside neighbouring stretch to save cost

A local Mid West council is lobbying for more investment in notorious Indian Ocean Drive, with the shire president saying it shouldn’t take people dying to take action to make the road safer. Residents are growing uneasy with the condition of a treacherous stretch of Indian Ocean Drive between Green Head and Leeman, according to its new shire president. The Shire of Coorow has only a small population of 1055, but the stretch of road on the outskirts of town sees more than 1600 vehicles passing through each day, after the road was created to alleviate tourist traffic from Brand Highway. The shire has been briefed by Main Roads on proposed changes to their section of the road, but have been told there is no funding currently available. Coorow shire president Guy Sims is hopeful the upcoming State election will stir interest in renewing the road, and points to the price tag being “a drop in the ocean” for the State Government. Many parts of Indian Ocean Drive, a direct route from Perth to popular tourism destinations such as Lancelin, Jurien Bay and Geraldton — have been upgraded since it was opened in 2010, to accommodate for traffic which increases yearly. The portion of IOD between Jurien Bay and Green Head was upgraded in stage one with works completed in May 2023, stage two between Leeman and Dongara will start soon, with work due to be completed on the $55 million project in late 2024. Over the past year, Coorow council put to Main Roads a suggestion to reduce the speed limit from 80km/h to 70km/h — which they rejected and came back with another possible unfunded design solution. The proposed upgrades for the Green Head to Leeman stretch in the concept plans presented by Main Roads included reconstruction of the road, new line-marking and the installation of safety barriers. “As soon as I became president (last November), it was clear very quickly it (Indian Ocean Drive) was one of the biggest concerns for residents,” Mr Sims said. Mr Sims said the road presented serious safety concerns with its width and absence of slip lanes, coupled with the speed limit of the area. “We have four turn offs into the residential areas and one into the industrial area. People can get frustrated if multiple cars are slowing down to turn off, especially if it’s multiple times,” he said. “We’ve had multiple incidences of shire trucks turning against the traffic and an oncoming car tries to overtake on double white lines, but doesn’t see the truck trying to turn.” Mr Sims raises the obvious worry — road deaths. “It shouldn’t take a death for this to happen. That’s why we want to do it now, rather than waiting for it to happen,” he said. In the five years to December 31, 2022, five crashes were reported on the 16km section of road between The Lakes Road in Green Head and Illyarrie Street, north of Leeman. One required medical attention, and four involved property damage only. During a meeting on February 9 this year, Main Roads presented to Mr Sims and Shire executives a concept plan to totally renovate their stretch of road. Mr Sims said the project could only be done with $10m in funding, which Main Roads couldn’t provide nor could the State Government. “With contractors onsite, if stage three proceeded directly after stage two Main Roads have indicated there would be a saving of around 20 per cent largely due to mobilisation costs,” he said. Mr Sims said the portion of road in question would take about six months to renovate, and would likely not need to be fully closed. The portion which is about to be made over in Dongara will be fully closed. Drivers will need to be rerouted to Brand Highway if they intend on passing through. Main Roads confirmed $30m worth of upgrades had been made to the road since 2020, including the installation of more than 200km of audible edge and centre lines. A State Government spokesperson said the road was “a high priority”. “Which is why it has allocated around $80 million towards safety improvement since 2020,” they said. “Funding decisions on any new infrastructure projects are made through regular budget processes.”