Council Ensures Driver Safety is a Priority on Taralga Road Providing residents with a road network that ensures driver safety is a high priority for Upper Lachlan Shire Council. “Any action by Council that minimises the potential likelihood of road accidents and the potential severity of such an accident is worthwhile,” said Mr Phillip Newham, Director of Works. The speed limit on Taralga Road has been recently reduced from 100km/hr to 80km/hr, to ensure road safety whilst road works are underway during the development of the Taralga Wind Farm Project. Council imposed the speed limit on Taralga Road in view of its experiences with the Gullen Range Wind Farm, where Range and Kialla Roads are affected. In this instance, before Council imposed speed limits, there were two crashes involving heavy vehicles and a number of reports of “near misses”. “Both of the crashes (on Range and Kialla Roads) had the potential to end in tragedy. When the speed limits were imposed, there were no further reports of “near misses” or crashes. The only issues that were brought to Council’s attention involved motorists who (it appeared) had received infringement notices from the Highway Patrol. These of course, are Police activities that ensure driver safety as well,” said Mr Newham. Council negotiated at length with the developer of the Taralga Wind Farm project, TWF, to secure an adequate financial contribution to upgrade the sections of Taralga road that will be heavily used during the development of the wind farm project, in order to ensure driver safety for road users. After careful deliberation, Council decided to reconstruct the areas at Tarlo River Hill, Gordonvale, and Cowpers Creek based on accident statistics and feedback from residents. Additional patching will also be carried out in the vicinity of the areas being rehabilitated. “TWF provided the funding for these road works as part of the Development Consent conditions (imposed by the N.S.W. Government) which relate to rectifying safety issues that Council is concerned about. Council then negotiated the scope of the works and contracts with TWF to carry out the work. TWF also need to comply with a condition requiring them to “make good” any damage that they may cause to the pavement,” explained Mr Newham. The length of Taralga Road subject to speed restrictions is 23.5km .The additional travel time when travelling at 80km/hr (instead of 100km/hr) along this length of road, is around three minutes. “This doesn’t seem like a significant penalty when you consider the additional margin of safety that it provides,” said Mr Newham. The activity at the Taralga Wind Farm development will soon advance to deliveries of Oversize and Over mass components. This situation may place further importance on the need for drivers to travel along Taralga Road at slower speeds. The speed limits are used to provide more time for vehicles to interact with each other. “Clearly doing this at 80km/hr is safer than doing it at 100plus km/hr,” said Mr Newham. The potential for a catastrophic outcome exists when heavy vehicles (weighing around 60 tonnes) collide with normal passenger vehicles. “Information held by Council (including reports from other road users) indicated that before the restrictions were imposed, the majority of (light traffic) users along Taralga Road drove at speeds of around 100 -105 km/hr. There were also records of motorists travelling at (and exceeding) 120km/hr. Given this information, why wouldn’t Council reduce the speed limit and ensure driver safety,” said Mr Newham. The road works are on target for completion by the end of September; however this could be affected by wet weather. The works around the Gordonvale area are almost complete, and Cowpers Hill works are well under way (as is the adjacent heavy patching). The survey and design works of the proposed road improvements at Tarlo River Hill are currently in progress. Council will review the speed limit along Taralga Road when traffic conditions change.
Posted on: Wed, 07 May 2014 04:27:41 +0000
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