Page 3054 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 August 2013
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involves challenges. Expediency is never put at the expense of safety. While measures are put in place to minimise the impact on existing traffic, these must never be at the expense of road users and road workers.
Managing temporary speed limits at worksites is a key aspect of balancing the sometimes conflicting objectives of traffic efficiency and safety. Under the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999, temporary traffic management plans for construction projects need to be authorised by Roads ACT. Those approvals of course include conditions to ensure that appropriate safety measures, including speed limits, are in place when needed but are removed when it is safe to do so.
Roads ACT seeks to ensure consistency, not only within the ACT but also with what drivers can expect to experience across the nation, by regulating the use of temporary speed limits in accordance with Australian standard 1742.3. The Australian standard requires, in the first instance, a risk assessment to be undertaken for the level of safety risk associated with proposed works. The Australian standard then provides technical guidance as to how those risks can be best managed, and temporary speed limits are a frequent option.
Worksite speed limits are determined by a range of factors, including the proximity of workers to traffic and the traffic arrangements that remain for road users. Following the requirements identified in the Australian standard ensures that the actual risks and requirements for reduced speed are relative to the stage of construction and the time of day.
Following authorisation for the use of temporary speed limits on public roads, enforcement of worksites is the responsibility of WorkSafe ACT, and policing of the community using the roads within the worksites rests with the AFP. Good working relations between worksites and the AFP have ensured consistent and appropriate policing to support the safety of the sites. Project contractors also play a role in ensuring that the correct traffic devices are in place as the construction work proceeds. This also means that the traffic devices are removed when not required.
Roads ACT also work closely with project developers, not only in relation to the consideration of temporary speed limits and seeking any additional information before they are authorised but also in undertaking audits and visiting sites where issues are identified. And I think that is an important point, because there are times when changes need to be made. Certainly I have observed one or two that I have raised with Roads ACT and they have gone out and changes have been made. I certainly recall receiving letters from both Mrs Dunne and Mr Coe about some issues at specific sites, and Roads ACT have gone out and made adjustments.
Of course, that is not ideal. It would be better if it did not come to that, but I think where members of the public do have specific concerns, and equally members of this place, where they see issues, I would urge that they do contact me either directly or through Canberra Connect because unfortunately mistakes do get made or things do not play out in the way that they should. So there is always that possibility for improvements to be made.
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