One of WA’s ‘Riskiest’ roads could be fixed in Main Roads WA investigation

Long-held calls to reduce the speed limit along a stretch of Bussell Highway once labelled the “riskiest” road in regional WA could finally be answered by the State Government. Main Roads WA is set to launch a road safety investigation to address concerns between Spurr Street and Capel Drive in a bid to increase safety for motorists and pedestrians. The 2km stretch of highway, which was in 2019 labelled by the RAC as the “riskiest” outside the metro area in WA, currently sees two lanes of traffic move at 110km/h in opposite directions. In 2005, a P-plate driver was killed in a crash at the intersection when the driver had failed to stop at a stop sign and was hit by a four-wheel-drive travelling north on the Highway. A number of car crashes have occurred in the same spot this year alone, including one in March when a driver had to be airlifted to hospital. The Capel Road Safety Action Group has been pushing to reduce the speed limit to 80km/h in recent years, a move that was earlier this year backed by Collie-Preston MLA Jodie Hanns. Main Roads WA will this month begin conducting a range of investigations and studies on the highway, including traffic counts, speed recordings and motorists’ behavioural circumstances. The organisation is set to present its findings in a completed safety review report to the Shire of Capel, including information on what type of permanent traffic control interventions are likely to improve safety. While roadworks are being carried out after the State and Federal governments committed $85 million to upgrade a nearby stretch of road between Busselton and Capel, the work does not include changes to the access points into Capel and Peppermint Grove. The Shire of Capel also passed a motion pushed by the CRSAG to support research by MRWA. Capel Shire deputy president Sebastian Schiano said the future of the highway would depend directly on the driver behavioural studies set to be completed by MRWA. “At the moment, nothing can really be done because it’s all roadworks, and it’s all traffic managed,” he said. “So when that’s finished, Main Roads is to do some significant studies and research, and we will encourage the research and surveys, then when all that information is put together we can address it in council again.” The Capel council has previously not supported notices of motions in relation to traffic safety proposed by CRSAG due to a lack of studies and evidence-based data. Business owner and CRSAG engieneer Andrew Guzzomi, who spoke on behalf of the group at last month’s meeting, said the access points to-and-from Bussell Highway were extremely dangerous for all road users. “It’s quite daunting to be at some of those intersections or property locations there trying to navigate and identify gaps in the traffic,” Dr Guzzomi said.