Cash to improve Black Spur motorcycle conditions

ROAD conditions for motorcyclists in the Upper Yarra and beyond the Black Spur are set to improve with funding available for accident black spots.
Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato announced last week that $257,040 would improve conditions along roads in the Warburton and Saint Fillians areas.
Ms Lobato said $91,800 will be used to install speed and curve advisory signs, prune trees and install guide posts at curves along a six-kilometre length of the Old Warburton Road between Wesburn and Warburton.
She said $88,740 will be spent on installing curve alignment markers and guide posts along 42km of Warburton-Woods Point Road from Warburton to Cambarville.
The remaining $76,500 will be used to install curve alignment markers, curve advisory signs and guide posts on about 19km of the Marysville-Woods Point Road between Marysville and Cambarville.
Ms Lobato said the three roads have seen 82 motorcycle crashes in the past five years, with many of them run-off-road crashes at, or near, curves.
“The road improvements will make a dramatic difference to the safety of motorcyclists, enabling riders to better predict and negotiate the road environment,” Ms Lobato said.
“Motorcyclists are among our most vulnerable road users. They are over represented in road fatalities accounting for around 11 per cent of the annual road toll, yet motorcycles comprise less than one per cent of travel on Victorian roads.”
Ms Lobato said the Bracks Government was working with the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council to direct funds raised through the Motorcycle Safety Levy back into a wide range of safety initiatives.
“About $7.1 million has now been allocated to improve riding conditions at 91 locations where there has been a high number of motorcycle crashes,” she said.
Ms Lobato said preliminary analysis of the Motorcycle Black Spot Program was very encouraging.
“The number of injury crashes at motorcycle black spot locations more than halved in the first year after treatment compared to long-term averages,” she said.