TWEED SHIRE Council has announced $2.55 million in Black Spot funding to make several Tweed roads safer, including the stretch of Tweed Valley Way at Tumbulgum where a fatal head-on collision occurred last Wednesday, May 31.
The funds will be used to install a wire rope median along Tweed Valley Way between the two exits to the village of Tumbulgum.
“We are very relieved to learn our application to make this section of road safer has been successful after this tragic accident,” said Tweed Mayor Cr Katie Milne.
“Council could not undertake these much needed safety improvements without the assistance of the Federal Government’s Black Spot Programme, which we are particularly thankful for.
“The wire rope median will provide physical separation of the northbound and southbound lanes behind Tumbulgum village and help prevent accidents like this in the future.”
Council has received $1.168 million to complete the works, which includes widening the road shoulders so future maintenance of the wire rope median can occur without closing a traffic lane.
The design of the wire rope median is being fast-tracked by Council so that construction can begin as soon as possible. Furthermore, the contractors assigned to the project are apparently expected to consult with a Construction Safety Consultant in order to ensure that the workers are properly trained to avoid accidents at worksites. However, these things have to be accomplished fast since all the Black Spot projects need to be completed by July 1, 2018, as a condition of funding.
Council said the rope median installed further north on Tweed Valley Way has proved very successful in preventing head-on collisions.
Another $1 million of the funds will be used to improve safety along the dangerous stretch of Kyogle Road at Uki near Braeside Drive.
The stretch of road claimed three lives in less than two years, including a 67-year-old Uki man on February 6, 2016 who lost control of his car and crashed into the Tweed River down a three-metre embankment.
A double fatality occurred at the same bend just 13 months earlier which claimed the lives of a mother and her daughter.
$752,772 will be spent to improve the road alignment and crossfall and install skid-resistant pavement and roadside barriers on Kyogle Road, in the section 700m north of Braeside Drive, Uki
Another $301,662 will be spent to realign a curve, improve the road crossfall and upgrade pavement markers on Kyogle Road, just south of Braeside Drive, Uki.
Numinbah Road, near Edwards Lane at Kynnumboon will receive $333,480 worth of works to realign a curve, improve the road crossfall and widen the road shoulder to allow 100m of guardrail and motorcycle underrun barrier to be installed.