Road upgrade to boost safety

Forrest MHR Nola Marino has secured $2.1 million in funding to upgrade Railway Road near Boyanup.

Mrs Marino and Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester were on site in Boyanup on Tuesday to announce the funding.

The upgrade forms part of the Regional Road Safety Package aimed at keeping motorists safe on WA roads.

Mrs Marino said the project would involve widening and sealing of shoulders as well as providing a painted line edge to improve visibility for motorists.

“I have been lobbying Minister Chester for these safety upgrades — this is a good outcome for locals,” she said.

Mr Chester said the Regional Road Safety Package would fund 16 safety upgrades across WA.

“We know if we invest in safer roads we are going to reduce the amount of serious injuries and deaths on our roads,” he said

“This is an important initiative because there has been five casualty crashes here over the last five years.”

Mrs Marino said she was pleased to see this investment by the Federal Government.

“This is a particularly important connecting road as you can see by the amount of traffic that has gone past while we have been here,” she said.

“And of course we are going to see more jobs for locals as a direct result of this project.

“Improved safety and more local jobs are all improvements for rural and regional Australia.”

Mrs Marino said she did not have an exact time frame for when the upgrade would be completed but expected work to get under way quickly.