Delayed Investment Will Cost More

AusRAP Star Ratings were integral to a recent independent review of more than 4,500km of South Australia's strategic highway network.

The RAA South Australia report, Towards 2020, details the improvements required to achieve a higher standard of safety and efficiency on the State's regional and urban road network. The RAA makes a case for investing early, saying "The undeniable fact is that the longer investment is delayed, the more expensive it will be to deliver."

Towards 2020 specifies a number of road safety enhancements for the network, including removing power poles from urban roadsides, increasing shoulder widths, installing safety barriers and building overtaking lanes.

RAA points out that locations previously identified for their poor safety have benefited from targeted investment in recent years. On the Sturt Highway for example, where lane and shoulder widths were increased, the number of deaths dropped from 31 in 2000-04 to 14 in 2003-07.

June 2009.