Federal Government will pour savings from Dukes Highway project back into the route, almost doubling the number of safety improvements
August 17, 2012
Savings from the $100 million Dukes Highway project in South Australia will be poured back into the vital route to almost double the number of safety improvements than originally planned.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says the upgrade of the highway, which links Adelaide to Melbourne, is progressing on time and under budget, allowing the government to commit to further works.
Albanese says the original work was for 64km of safety barriers at 150 locations, but the government will now deliver 86km of safety barriers at 220 sites along the highway.
“The new safety barriers will prevent vehicles from crossing onto the wrong side of the highway into the path of other vehicles,” he says.
“We are also widening 90km of the highway, up from the original 50km, to better separate vehicles travelling in both directions.”
The Coalition has committed to duplicating the highway but has declined to put a timeframe on it. Opposition spokesman on transport Warren Truss says the project is “a long to medium term priority”, prompting Albanese to claim the Opposition will never deliver it.
