The release of a new road rating system has confirmed what many locals in and around Wangaratta may have already feared.
The Victorian government has released the Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) road safety star ratings, which provide an evidence-based assessment on the health of the state’s road network.
AusRAP is a globally recognised risk-rating system designed by the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP).
The ratings show where the risk of fatal or serious injury is greatest across the road network, with five being the safest and zero the riskiest.
While the Victorian portion of the Hume Freeway was given a respectable 4.8-star rating, roads in and around Wangaratta rarely broke the three-star threshold.
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The entire Great Alpine received a below two-star rating, with the road at its least safe from Bright to Bairnsdale.
In the 76.4km stretch of the road from Wangaratta to Bright, the road was rated at 2.4 stars, which carries approximately 101.1 million vehicle kilometres of travel per year.
The riskiest road within the rural city according to the ratings was the Wangaratta-Whitfield Road at a 1.8-star rating.
Other roads like Snow Road (2.3 stars), Greta Road (2.2 stars), Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road (2.6 stars), Glenrowan Road, through Wangaratta, to Bowser Road (2.6 stars) and Federation Way (2.6 stars) received ratings in red.
Wangaratta-based Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy said the ratings confirmed what the community had been saying for years.
“With the Great Alpine Road sitting at just 1.8 stars, it is not a matter of if, but when another tragedy will occur," he said.
"Country people should not be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to road safety.
“The state government cannot ignore figures like this, one and two-star roads are death traps.
“When families in the Ovens Valley get behind the wheel, they deserve to know they are safe.
“These ratings are a wake-up call, the government must look at the data and act before more lives are lost on our roads.”
Ratings are calculated using a range of risk factors and information, such as average daily traffic; speed limit; number of lanes in each direction; lane width; shoulder width; presence or absence of roadside barriers and audio tactile line markings (rumble strips); gradient and curvature; quality of line-markings; skid resistance; and provisions for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
This information can be overlaid with crash data to understand how infrastructure contributes to crashes and crash outcomes, enabling road authorities to identify potential road works that will reduce risk of crashes and prioritise corrective investment.
RACV head of policy, James Williams, said the release of AusRAP ratings was an important step towards improving road safety and reducing the risk of serious injury and fatalities on Victorian roads.
RACV supports upgrading all major roads to a minimum three-star AusRAP safety rating, with all new roads designed and built to at least four stars.
“If we can lift the safety rating of our road network, we can make a real difference to the number and severity of crashes,” Mr Williams said.
“While improved driver behaviour and vehicle safety technologies are crucial, we will not reach our Towards Zero targets without investing in safer roads.”
Coinciding with the release of the ratings was the state government launch of a $976 million road maintenance blitz, the largest single-year investment in road maintenance in the state’s history.
The blitz will target the state’s busiest travel and trade routes and key regional Victorian roads, including the Hume Freeway.
Mr McCurdy said it was time to see results.
“People in regional Victoria are tired of spin; they want less talk and more action to make our roads safer," he said.
