PROTECTIVE rails, sign-post cushions and road resealing will be carried out to improve motorcyclist safety in rider blackspots in the state’s Alpine region.
The state government has responded to the spike in motorcycle deaths on Victoria’s roads over the summer with three safety projects along 228km of roads, funded by the Motorcycle Safety Levy.
But the projects won’t be finished in time for this year’s recreational riding season, but will be completed late next year.
A total of $5.4 million will be spent on better surfaces and roadside improvements along sections of The Great Alpine Road, Licola Road and Omeo Highway, Roads Minister Luke Donnellan will announce today.
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READ NOW“We know motorcyclists are over-represented in serious and fatal crashes and that’s why we’re identifying the routes riders use so we can make them safer,” Mr Donnellan said.
Motorcyclists account for about one quarter of the more than 29 people killed and 300 seriously injured in eastern Victoria every year.
The statewide rider toll for 2016 now sits at 32 — all men — compared to 29 for all of 2015.
The projects will be funded by the TAC motorcycle safety levy, currently $70, which every rider pays on top of their bike registration.
A total of $22.8 million sits unspent in the safety levy fund — the equivalent to almost three years of rider contributions. — despite the tragic events of early this year.
Rider groups have long criticised the safety levy — the only tax to target a specific road user group. More than 187,000 motorcycles are currently registered in Victoria.
Riders are also angry the levy can pay for general road improvements, such as resurfacing, so motorcyclists are effectively subsidising projects that benefit all road users.
Since June 2002, about $32 million of levy cash has been committed to motorcycle safety projects, the government said. Between $2 million and $4 million has been spent annually in the past four years.
The latest improvements include:
* Protective barriers at the base of guard rails to prevent riders sliding underneath and being cut on the rail edge.
* Extra signs and guide posts to alert riders to danger.
* Road and driveway intersections to be resealed and remove gravel.
* Signpost cushions to be trialled on the Omeo Highway.
Most of the money, $3.69 million, will be spent on the Great Alpine Road, while $1.1 million is for Licola Road between Licola and Heyfield, and $632,000 for Omeo Highway between Bogong High Plains Road and Anglers Rest.
The latest rider death was a 36-year-old Bayswater man who died last Thursday in the Alfred Hospital a month after he was involved in a collision with a van in Knoxfield.
The 31st victim was a 32-year-old man who died in Hoppers Crossing on May 23 while riding a bicycle with a small engine, which is classified as a motorcycle.
ian.royall@news.com.au