Westerway's walk on the wild side to end

WESTERWAY students will have a safer walk to school thanks to the State Government and Derwent Valley Council. Infrastructure Minister David O’Byrne has announced 18 projects funded under a new program that will protect vulnerable road users. This includes two projects in the Derwent Valley municipality, which are:

• Humphrey St, New Norfolk: aluminium walkway over Lachlan Creek, with connecting footpaths, $100,000.
• Gordon River Rd, Westerway: 400m of footpath adjacent to the road, near the school, $180,000.

Derwent Valley Council general manager Stephen Mackey told tonight's monthly meeting that the council would contribute about $30,000 to the Humphrey St bridge project and about $70,000 to the Westerway footpath.

In a statement, Mr O’Byrne said the government money would come from the $1.5 million Vulnerable Road User Program, funded through the Road Safety Levy. The selected projects would particularly support pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

“While our road toll has reduced to record lows in recent years, one in four people killed on our roads, and one in three people seriously injured, are vulnerable road users,” Mr O’Byrne said. “Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists have a higher risk of being severely injured in crashes, because they’re completely unprotected.”

Mr O’Byrne said the successful projects had been selected for best meeting the program objectives and would be delivered during the current financial year.