The City of Greater Bendigo and the Central Goldfields Shire are two of only six regional municipalities to have been selected for initial funding to design safer roads over the next four years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The state government has unveiled the first 11 local governments to receive funding to develop, design and plan road safety improvements along council-managed roads, intersections and precincts.
The funding is the first stage of the state government's $210 million Safe Local Roads and Streets Program.
The other four regional municipalities to be part of stage one are Moira, Baw Baw, Murrindindi and Surf Coast.
Those chosen to take part across metropolitan Melbourne are Brimbank, Monash, Casey, Yarra and Melton.
READ MORE:
A Safer Local Roads and Streets reference group will also be established to map out the planning framework, investment guidelines, tools and resources.
All Victorian local governments will be progressively introduced to the program from late 2023.
Transport Accident Commission CEO Tracey Slatter welcomed the funding arrangement.
"Local councils play a crucial role in identifying their region's road safety needs," she said.
"This program will allow us to work together with councils to design and build safer roads for their communities."
Around 33 per cent of road trauma happens on local council-managed roads each year.
Around 132,000km of Victoria's road network is made up of local roads, making up 87 per cent.
Of the 179 fatalities this year, 90 have occurred on local roads.
The program supports the government's Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030, which aims to halve road deaths and reduce serious injuries by 2030 and eliminate road deaths by 2050.
Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with the Bendigo Advertiser app. Click here to download.