Saving Lives on Country Roads
Project overview
Everyone wants their friends and family to return home safely, and we’re no different. Far too many lives have been lost on country roads which is why the NSW Government has committed $822 million to the successful delivery of our NSW Safer Roads Program.

We have looked at historical data and identified 92 locations across NSW, which will receive a number of safety treatments including:
- safety barriers – proven to reduce the severity of road crashes by 95%
- rumble strips – proven to reduce the likelihood of run off road crashes and head-on crashes by 25%
- and wider centrelines to allow more room for drivers to correct themselves
Project information
Background
The NSW Government has developed the Saving Lives on Country Roads initiative, as part of the Safer Roads Program, to help address the number of people being killed and seriously injured on country roads. The program has been designed to deliver safety improvements for high risk country roads.
The NSW Government has provided a $174.7 million package to complete road safety improvements across the Western Region under the Safer Roads Program.
To find out more visit the Towards Zero Safe Roads webpage.
Benefits
Wide centreline
The introduction of a one metre wide centreline will improve safety by providing greater separation between vehicles travelling in opposite directions.
Rumble Strips
The proposal incorporates installing Rumble strips (also known as Audio Tactile Line Marking) on the edge lines and centrelines along sections of the highway.
Rumble strips are small raised bumps typically placed along the edges of roads and in the centre of roads to alert a driver when they are drifting out of their lane. For more information on Rumble strips please review the FACT sheet (623Kb). Further consultation will be carried out with residents living along these sections of the highway where Rumble strips will be installed.
We have delivered 214 kilometres of rumble strips across the western region.
Flexible Safety Barriers
Flexible safety barriers protect vehicles who have left their carriageway from roadside hazards and vehicles travelling in the opposing direction.
Project documents
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If you are having trouble accessing information in these documents, please contact us.
Community notifications
- March 2020 project update
Installation of audio tactile line marking
Project notifications
- June 2022
Recommencement of work on the Mitchell Highway at the North Minore Road intersection from Tuesday 14 June
Fact sheets
Media releases
- 15 January 2021
Safety barriers for Hume Highway at Berrima - 4 December 2020
No barrier to Kamilaroi Highway safety boost
4 August 2020
Work steaming ahead on Mitchell Highway between Bathurst and Orange
Contact us
For further information about this project, please contact:
Phone: 1800 167 499
Email: western.projects@transport.nsw.gov.au