Road Safety Fund

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (15:49): My question is to the Minister for Road Safety. Minister, what is the status of the expenditure of the Motor Accident Commission's Road Safety Fund?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:49): I would like to thank the honourable member for his question and also his obvious interest in road safety. As members would be aware, last year the Motor Accident Commission provided the government with $100 million to be used for road safety infrastructure initiatives on our roads.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Mr Speaker, the members opposite mock me, but when we announce roads in their electorate they are quite happy to join me for announcements. Members—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Members should also be aware of some of the major successes that have arisen from the $100 million MAC funding, including the Britannia roundabout—

An honourable member: Hear, hear!

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Hear, hear—and upgrades made to major intersections in their electorates. We are now seeing many of the projects announced in the first round come to fruition. Over the past few weeks, I have announced a variety of projects from money remaining in the fund. Today, I am pleased to inform the house that we are investing $2.8 million to upgrade 12 intersections across the metropolitan area. The intersections to be upgraded are:

North East Road-Grand Junction Road

Woodville Road-Torrens Road

West Lakes Boulevard-Frederick Road

West Lakes Boulevard-Tapleys Hill Road

Marion Road-Mooringe Avenue

Grange Road-Frederick Road

Montague Road-Belalie Road

Montague Road-Reservoir Road-Ladywood Road

Grand Junction Road-Valley Road

Trimmer Parade-Frederick Road

Panalatinga Road-Pimpala Road

Findon Road-Trimmer Parade-Fife Street

The works will include controlling right-turn movements with green arrows, which has the potential to significantly reduce right-turn crashes. About half of serious casualty crashes that occur within the Adelaide metropolitan area occur at intersections, unfortunately. Between 2009 and 2013, there have been 89 crashes at these intersections resulting from right-hand turns, causing 12 serious and 77 minor injuries.

Even relatively minor changes to intersections such as these can drastically improve safety. This is an excellent investment in safety on our roads. $2.4 million will be invested from the MAC's Road Safety Fund towards these projects, with an additional $400,000 coming from the state government. We expect these works to be completed in 2015, weather permitting.

A large part of the Road Safety Fund investment is going towards improving roads in rural areas. We have recently begun work on a 94-kilometre stretch of the Augusta Highway between Port Wakefield and Crystal Brook. This $3.5 million project is slated to wind up in April next year. Additionally, we are working on sightline improvements and entry points and exit points around Mambray Creek (between Port Pirie and Port Augusta) and Snowtown, at a cost of $3.25 million.

In the south of the state, we are spending almost $6 million on improvements to Main South Road and Victor Harbor Road. We will soon be starting shoulder sealing and guardrail installation on 16 kilometres of Gorge Road and Battunga Road, investing $1.8 million towards that project.

We have also recently completed South Australia's first motorcycle-specific safety audit, analysing 200 kilometres of road sections for crash data over five years. From this, 14 sections of road in and around the Adelaide Hills and country areas were selected for a $1.4 million investment. These improvements, which are upgrades to guardrails, will reduce the severity of crashes and save lives for motorcyclists. Mr Speaker, we heard—

The SPEAKER: Your time has expired. Member for Flinders.