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Main South Road between Aldinga and Sellicks Beach has been recognised as the state’s riskiest in the 2021 RAA Risky Roads survey.
The survey was completed by more than 2100 road users, giving motorists, cyclists and pedestrians the opportunity to nominate a road or intersection they believe needs repairs or major upgrades.
The intersection of Curtis and Heaslip roads at Angle Vale received the most nominations for a junction in the survey, with criticisms of inadequate turning opportunities and lack of traffic signals.
Poor road maintenance was the major cause for concern on virtually all of the nominated SA roads, with uneven surfaces, crumbling road edges, potholes and a lack of overtaking opportunities cited as key safety issues.
Potholes, crumbling edges and rough surfaces were the top three complaints about Main South Road between Aldinga and Sellicks Beach. This section of Main South Road was also rated the second riskiest in the 2019 survey, but thankfully these issues are being addressed by roadworks.
RAA Senior Manager Safety and Infrastructure Charles Mountain said the survey highlighted the need for ongoing maintenance of the state’s road network.
“Regular road maintenance is as important as new infrastructure to reduce the risk to road users’ safety,’’ he said.
“RAA welcomed the investment on the network since the last survey in 2019 was held, in particular the more than $300 million dollars committed to infrastructure upgrades and maintenance on risky roads nominated that year.
“The recent investment in road maintenance through additional federal and state stimulus funding programs has resulted in an unprecedented and welcomed level of activity across the network.
“Many of the projects involve shoulder sealing, pavement remediation, roadside hazard removal and upgraded intersection treatments, which significantly reduce the risk and severity of road crashes.
“It is vital that the momentum of work is maintained, as ongoing maintenance is essential regardless of the economic or political cycle.
“This is why RAA believes a four-year maintenance fund must be established with a minimum value of $600m to address the outstanding maintenance backlog across the network, and we are calling on the winner of the state election in March to commit to this funding.’’
Mr Mountain said the Risky Roads survey helps RAA understand the issues associated with SA’s roads and intersections from a user perspective and advocate for improvements.
“There have been 1171 casualty crashes resulting in 27 deaths and 1564 injuries on the ten riskiest roads nominated last month between 2016 and 2020, which highlights that upgrades and repairs are needed to reduce the overall level of risk to all road users,” Mr Mountain said.
“Capturing feedback from people using the roads is critical to helping RAA understand issues with the regional and metropolitan road network and work with authorities to improve road performance and safety for all road users.
“RAA will continue advocating for much-needed improvements to these roads – with some already earmarked for repairs or major upgrades.”
