Midland Highway 10 Year Action Plan
A 3 star safety rating for the Midland Highway
The objective of our 10 year investment in the Midland Highway is to deliver a minimum 3 star rating for the
highway’s entire length.
The Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) is part of the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP)
that uses star ratings to measure the safety of a road’s infrastructure. Each road is assigned a star rating which
tells us how safe the road itself is and allows road safety improvements to be identified and costed.
The AusRAP Star Rating Australia’s National Network of Highways 2013 report found that the majority of the
Midland Highway rated either only 1 or 2 star, in its 5 star safety rating scale.
How will we achieve a 3 star rating?
The Midland Highway upgrade will use the ‘Safe System’ approach, which has been adopted by all Australian state
and territory road authorities. The approach recognises that people will make mistakes which result in crashes
and road infrastructure needs to be designed to take account of these errors.
For the majority of the length of the Midland Highway, the predominant crash type is loss of control, most of
which are single vehicle crashes with some resulting in head-on crashes.
The Midland Highway 10 Year Action Plan sets out key priorities for investing $500 million over 10 years to
upgrade the highway and improve road safety on Tasmania’s key north-south freight route.
We will improve road safety and decrease driver frustration by providing a safer road with more overtaking
opportunities.
To achieve the safety benefit, a number of road treatments can be applied. These include:

Lane separation with flexible safety barriers can achieve a 90% reduction in serious road trauma caused by
head-on and run-off road crashes.

Audible edge lines (rumble strips) alert drivers when they wander towards the edge of the road and
provide time to recover.

Extended sealed shoulders prevent loss of control when a vehicle crosses the edge line.

Clearing roadside hazards or providing roadside barriers where hazards can’t be removed.

Improving skid resistance of road surfaces.

Upgrading junctions by providing turning lanes to allow turning vehicles to move out of the traffic flow.

Alignment upgrades to smooth out tight corners and blind spots.

Constructing 2 +1 lane arrangements to improve overtaking opportunities and avoid driver frustration.
Dual carriageway
Dual carriageways are provided at locations where traffic volumes are higher, generally near Launceston and
Hobart.
This Action Plan includes the construction of a dual carriageway from Perth to Breadalbane in northern Tasmania.
The provision of a four lane highway will remain a long term goal which will be achieved by upgrading in a staged
process as traffic volumes increase
List of actions
Road safety improvements have been identified to deliver a 3 star safety rating. These include projects at specific
sites as well as treatments along the entire highway corridor. Specific safety treatment locations are shown on
the map.

Dual carriageway between Perth and the Breadalbane Roundabout

Alignment upgrades at identified crash black spots:
o
Mona Vale Junction
o
White Lagoon
o
South of Tunbridge – curve improvements and wide central median

Perth Link Roads – construction of a southern link from the South Esk River crossing to Illawarra Main Road
to take heavy vehicles travelling to Burnie out of the town. We will also plan for the longer term western
Perth link road, connecting Illawarra Road to the Perth-Breadalbane section.

Additional 2+1 overtaking facilities between;
o
White Lagoon and Mona Vale
o
Kempton and Muddy Plains Road
o
Jordan River Bridge and Lemon Hill
o
Lemon Hill and York Plains Road
o
Macquarie River and Campbell Town
o
Campbell Town and Conara
o
Epping Forest and Powranna
o
Symmons Plains and Perth

Upgrading of existing overtaking facilities to accommodate central median barrier between Dysart and
Kempton, north and south of Spring Hill.

Junction upgrades at:
o
Mudwalls Road
o
Sorell Springs Road
o
Esk Main Road
o
Kings Meadows Connector Roundabout

Safety improvements between Mangalore and Bagdad.

St Peters Pass- safety improvements will include junction upgrade, sight distance improvements, safety
barrier and shoulder sealing.
Federal Minister’s message
The Midland Highway has been one of Tasmania’s vital transport arteries for more than
two centuries. It is essential to Tasmania’s future that the highway is transformed and
fully modernised. A better Midland Highway will greatly improve road safety, reduce
travel times for drivers and boost the State’s economic growth.
To achieve these essential goals the Australian Government is investing $400 million in
projects that will regenerate the Midland Highway along its entire length. These
projects will ensure the highway meets the safety standards and the quality Tasmanians
have every right to expect of a key part of Australia’s national highway network.
We are pleased to partner with Tasmania in making this investment and I congratulate
the Tasmanian Government for its development of the Midland Highway 10 Year
Action Plan.
The Action Plan details a comprehensive range of works which will make the Midland fit for future needs. These
include the Southern Perth link road which will take heavy vehicles travelling to Burnie out of the town;
duplication from Perth to the Breadalbane roundabout; three alignment upgrades; eight new 2+1 overtaking lanes
and upgrades to three existing overtaking lanes; and four junction upgrades. These works will vastly improve the
experience of driving the Midland Highway and create better links between Tasmania’s two largest cities and the
State’s regions.
Infrastructure is the bedrock of economic growth and a better society. The Australian Government is investing a
record $50 billion in transport infrastructure projects from 2013-14 to 2019-20 onwards. Our investments in
critical infrastructure throughout Australia, such as the Midland Highway and other Tasmanian projects, will help
create prosperity throughout the nation.
I look forward to the benefits that the revitalised Midland Highway will bring to Tasmania and to Tasmanians.
Warren Truss
Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development
State Minister’s message
The Midland Highway 10-Year Action Plan sets out key priorities for investing $500
million over 10 years to upgrade the highway and improve road safety on Tasmania’s
key north-south passenger and freight route.
This Action Plan forms an important part of the Tasmanian Government’s Roads for
Our Future program, which brings together all the investment in the road network we
manage.
As a vital link for road freight to transport goods between Tasmania’s two major cities,
and an important social link between regions, there is a mix of vehicle types on the
road. In recent years, the tragic fact is that it has witnessed catastrophic casualty
crashes, many of the ‘head-on’ type.
The Midland Highway Partnership Agreement signed between the previous Government and the seven
stakeholder local councils, reflects the policy objective of the new Liberal Government that the entire route
should become a four-lane, separated highway. This objective informs this Action Plan.
While this remains our long-term goal, we must act now and use known road safety engineering treatments, like
flexible barrier, to make the Midland Highway safer. From a Safe System approach, a key safety priority for the
Midland Highway is the separation of opposing traffic flows.
The Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) 2013 Star Rating Australia’s National Network of Highways
report found that 86% of the Midland Highway is rated either only 1 or 2-star, in its 5-star safety rating scale. This
is unacceptable and must be improved.
We will use the AusRAP safer roads methodology, an international road safety audit approach developed by the
Australian Automobile Association, to underpin our investment thinking. A key metric for this Action Plan is to
significantly improve safety to a minimum AusRAP 3 star rating over the entire length of the highway.
We will make the Midland Highway safer through the installation of the successful flexible safety barriers, by
introducing wider medians, removing roadside hazards, investing in junction upgrades, widening lanes and adding
additional overtaking opportunities.
This Action Plan outlines our priority road safety objectives for the entire length of the Midland Highway over the
next decade to improve safety for all road users. We’ve listened to the community – and we will make the
Midland Highway safer.
Rene Hidding
Minister for Infrastructure
Contact
For further information, contact
the Department of State Growth
Phone:
1800 753 878
Email:
[email protected]
Web:
www.transport.tas.gov.au