Main Roads urging travellers to drive to conditions during school holiday traffic & South West road works

Holidaymakers are being encouraged to drive to the conditions when exploring the South West during the school holidays, as road works continue on Bussell Highway and the region is hit with wet weather. With families headed south, traffic is expected to be busier than usual. Main Roads WA spokesman Dean Roberts encouraged road users to plan their trip before departing. “Please be patient when travelling this long weekend/school holiday period — be roadwork aware, slow down when approaching work sites and take care when driving through,” Mr Roberts said. Heavy rain in July meant stage one of upgrades to Bussell Highway were delayed by more than a month and dreary conditions are set to continue this week. However, Mr Roberts said stage one — the 5km section from Spurr Street to Hutton Road — was on track for completion in late October. The $85 million Bussell Highway Duplication Project will upgrade a 17km section of highway between Capel and Busselton, including new lanes, road improvements and bridge construction in an effort to improve safety and reduce congestion. Stage two includes duplicating a 12km stretch of highway between Hutton Road and Sabina Road, and the construction of three bridges. The segment of highway was labelled the “riskiest” road in regional WA by the RAC in 2019, and has been the subject of persistent calls for increased safety measures for the past decade. Mr Roberts said early works for stage two of the project had started. This includes clearing and earthworks to enable construction of the first 2km section starting at Hutton Road, and a further 2km section between Ruabon Road and Ludlow-Hithergreen Road. Motorists are being urged to drive safely when passing through the construction zones. The speed is currently reduced to 60km/h between Spurr Street and Hutton Road. Speed limits will intermittently be reduced to 80km/h and 60km/h as works necessitates on the stage two section.