The new inspection station for heavy vehicles is being built as we speak to keep key freight routes safer
A new heavy vehicle inspection station to be built on the Golden Highway will make one of NSW’s key freight links safer.
Work to build the new facility is now underway, about seven kilometres east of Ballimore, between Dubbo and Dunedoo, on the western side of the Golden Highway.
The project forms part of a jointly funded, $23.7 million commitment under the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program (HVSPP) to implement a series of improvements along the Golden Highway. This new facility is one of these improvements, to which the federal government has committed $3.7 million and the NSW government $3.3 million.
The facility will utilise Intelligent Transport System (ITS) components including electronic speed signs, open/closed signage and network facilities. It will facilitate compliance monitoring and enforcement of heavy vehicles on the Golden Highway, reducing heavy vehicle overloading, fatigue-related heavy vehicle crashes and the risk of non-compliant vehicles travelling to Dubbo.
Most heavy vehicles registered in NSW need to be inspected annually under the Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS) to ensure roadworthiness.
The Golden Highway is a major freight link connecting Dubbo in the state’s west with the Hunter region, Newcastle and Sydney via the Castlereagh Highway and Great Western Highway.
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“The HVSPP provides funding for projects like this which work to make our most utilised freight routes safer for truckies and everyone using our roads,” federal assistant transport and infrastructure minister Carol Brown says.
“This inspection station is one of many HVSPP projects increasing safety and reliability for the trucking industry across Australia while enhancing access and improve freight transport through local rural communities.”
NSW regional transport and roads minister Jenny Aitchison says: “Heavy vehicle safety stations are an important part of Transport for NSW’s on-road enforcement program.”
“There is a network of these heavy vehicle safety stations on major routes across the state which heavy vehicle inspectors use as a base to intercept and inspect heavy vehicles to identify whether any may be operating illegally or in an unsafe manner on NSW roads.”