16 September 2019

Monaro Highway to be upgraded before 2020 ski season

| Lachlan Roberts
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The tender said there is 25 kilometre stretch of highway without overtaking lanes on the Monaro Highway. Photo: Supplied.

The ACT Government plans to upgrade two sections of Monaro Highway before Canberra heads south for next year’s snow season, after yet another fatal crash on the busy highway.

Transport Canberra and City Services has released a tender for the design and construction of Monaro Highway improvements, including construction of a two-kilometres of a northbound overtaking lane between Williamsdale Road and Royalla Drive.

The tender said there is 25 kilometre stretch of highway without overtaking lanes for motorists heading into Canberra, causing drivers to be impatient during the holiday season.

“Significant traffic increases over holiday periods and during the ski season can result in considerable levels of driver frustration leading to risky overtaking manoeuvres,” the tender reads.

“This factor coupled with the accident history which included several head-on collisions in the immediate area is the basis for the provision of an overtaking lane with a wide median treatment.

“Construction of the overtaking lane facility is expected to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes both within the area of works and upstream and downstream of the project location through decreased drive frustration resulting in risky overtaking manoeuvres.”

After 44 crashes including five fatalities on the highway between 2011 – 2016, a black spot study was conducted which identified several safety improvements to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes.

Strategic barrier lines and wide centreline marking were installed last year as an interim safety improvement measure while planning for an overtaking lane and other more significant measures were undertaken.

Other proposed improvements on the Monaro Highway include the construction of a 200-metre channelised left turn for southbound traffic on the Monaro Highway into Old Cooma Road. The tender said the road work was to stop drivers using the painted median to overtake decelerating vehicles.

“This manoeuvre is considered highly risky with the strong possibility of serious or fatal T-bone crashes,” the tender said. “The exposure and thus likelihood of such crashes is expected to increase as demand for the left turn movement increases as drivers use this route to access the growing Googong subdivision.”

The road works will also see new road pavements, kerbs, concrete island, line marking, pavement markings, on-road cyclist provisions, stormwater drainage and property access provisions as well as the installation of verge side safety barriers.

The road works, which will be jointly funded by the ACT Government and Federal Government, aims to be completed prior to the start of the ski season in 2020.

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It is obvious from most of the responses that we local users regard the Monaro Highway as being unacceptably dangerous. Making it safer requires more than incremental improvements. I feel ashamed every time I pass the white bike memorial to Mike Hall at the Williamsdale intersection.

During the 60s and early 70s I almost had this road to myself during the week, but a team of wild horses wouldn’t get me anywhere near it on the winter w/ends, too many Sunday drivers. Good driving begins with good instruction, a scarce commodity.

Want an easy way to make the road safer? Have police out there booking people for obstructing traffic. People overtake in stupid places there out of sheer frustration at some idiot towing a caravan that well exceeds the towing capacity of their vehicle, 20-30Km/h under the speed limit. Then there are the ones just out for a sightseeing drive, plodding along at 80 in a 100 zone, swerving all over the road.

The highway is perfectly safe. People obstructing traffic make it dangerous.

Capital Retro7:36 am 16 Sep 19

Morris Reinbear, that’s what the warmists were saying in 2012. Next year is 2020 and this year snowfalls in the NSW Alps was one of the best on record.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/enjoy-snow-now-by-2020-itll-be-gone/news-story/c70cba34e51fa503ada7dff8899042db

Capital Retro8:05 am 17 Sep 19

…..with another 31 cm overnight!

Another idea might be change to route number from B23 to A23 between Canberra and Cooma. This might help gain more funding from both the Federal and NSw governments.

The Monaro Highway in the ACT should be upgraded to motorway standard for both driver safety and improving travel times in the Canberra area.

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