MONEY LEFT UNSPENT AS SOUTHEND ROAD SAFETY ISSUES LEFT UNADDRESSED
TONY PASIN MP
MEMBER FOR BARKER
ASSISTANT SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT
MEDIA RELEASE
MONEY LEFT UNSPENT AS SOUTHEND ROAD SAFETY ISSUES LEFT UNADDRESSED
Member for Barker Tony Pasin MP has hit out at the State Labor Government for allowing Federal Government funding intended to improve road safety left unspent while a dangerous intersection at Southend remains unfixed.
The Federal Government’s Black Spot Road Safety program delivers $120 million per year to target road locations where crashes are occurring or are at risk of occurring.
The program aims to reduce the risk of fatal and serious injury crashes, saving the community many times the cost of the relatively minor road improvements that are implemented.
“The Southend community and the Wattle Range Council have been fighting for a left hand turn for well over a decade. Calls for a slip lane have been backed by myself and the RAA and yet the State Government refuse to accept that this treatment is necessary, and instead have made every effort to reject the project’s eligibility for funding through the Black Spot program,” Mr Pasin said.
The latest round of Black Spot funding allocated $5.9 million worth of projects in South Australia despite $8.5 million available in the funding pool for the State.
“Minister Koutsantonis wants to use every excuse in the book as to why he won’t commit to fix the intersection on the Southern Ports Highway at Southend, including having the Department cost the installation of traffic lights as the solution and in doing so ensured the figure is unnecessarily high,” Mr Pasin said.
“The intersection requires a left-hand turn slip lane. The community, the Wattle Range Council and the RAA are all in agreement about that.”
“With $2.9 million in Federal funding under the Black Spot Road safety program for SA unspent, Minister Koutsantonis should be ashamed of himself. Rural South Australians and the community of Southend deserve better.” Mr Pasin said.
Media Contact: Charlotte Edmunds 8724 7730
