VicRoads urges go-slow for road works

WITH road work season underway, VicRoads Chief Executive John Merritt has called for Cardinia Shire drivers to understand the role they play in keeping road workers safe.
“In these warmer months, we have the perfect hot and dry conditions to do a huge amount of work to improve our roads across the state, but with that comes a concern for the safety of our workers,” he said.
“Each day there will be more than 2000 Victorian road workers over hundreds of sites this summer and we are asking all motorists to make sure they do their bit to keep road workers safe.
“Since 2012, there have been 37 injuries to our workers on roadwork sites. So safety is a critical issue.
“The community has asked us to ensure the roads are safe to drive on and they’ll see us out there working to do just that.
“VicRoads is responsible for more than 22,500 km of road across the state. This summer, we will re-surface the equivalent distance of road between Melbourne and Adelaide.
“There are times when we can’t complete a job in a single day and speeds will stay reduced, even if there are no workers on site. This is to keep you and your family safe as the road conditions have changed,” he said.
“There will also be large projects occurring such as duplicating a highway, installing safety features such as wire rope barriers, or minor work like grass cutting or repairing potholes.
“It’s an unpredictable work environment and it’s critical that all motorists obey speed limits and stop and go points. They are in place to keep workers and motorists safe,” he said.
With a busy summer ahead, VicRoads encourages road users to plan their journeys through VicTraffic.
“We understand this can be frustrating, but we all want our roads to be improved and maintained, so we encourage people to plan ahead by using VicTraffic, be patient and slow down,” he said.
VicTraffic is available through http://traffic.vicroads.vic.gov.au/ and downloadable via the App store.