Over $5 million investment for safer roads

People living in and around Ballarat will have a safer trip home thanks to more than $5 million in Australian Government funding to improve four known crash sites under the 2024–25 Black Spot Program.

On Friday, Member for Ballarat Catherine King visited Greenhalghs Road and Finchs Road in Haddon with City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson to announce funding for the notorious intersection which has been the site of several accidents and near misses.

With funding of $2 million from the Black Spot Program, plus a co-contribution from City of Ballarat of $976,000, the intersection will be made significantly safer with the construction of a roundabout with splitter islands and raised safety platforms. A speed zone reduction review will also be undertaken in the surrounding area.

The Black Spot Program funds a range of safety measures at locations where serious crashes have occurred, or are at risk of occurring. 

Other local black spot sites receiving funding are this round are:

• $265,650 for Doveton and Eyre Streets in Ballarat Central to implement right hand turn signal and lane markings to all approaches at the intersection. 
• $944,000 for Avenue and Henderson Roads in Burrumbeet to install splitter islands, rumble strips and raised safety platforms as well as improving signage and street lighting.
• $1,912,000 for Gumley Road, 2.7 kilometres north of Rokewood-Shelford Road for shoulder widening through curves, safety barrier installation, and improved delineation and signage.

These projects will make an important contribution towards reducing serious injuries and deaths on local roads, and build on previous investments in the Ballarat road network.

The Australian Government has substantially increased Black Spot Program funding, which is progressively rising from $110 million to $150 million per year. This is part of the Government’s response to the worsening road toll which includes doubling Roads to Recovery funding from $500 million to $1 billion a year and delivering a nationally harmonised set of high-quality and timely data to inform road safety decision making.

Visit the Australian Government’s Black Spot Program website for more information, to nominate a black spot and for the full list of recipients visit 

Quotes attributable to Member for Ballarat Catherine King:

“The recent federal budget baked in significant increases to both the Black Spot Funding Program and Roads to Recovery because we are committed to supporting local and state governments to make our local roads safer.”

“This means more money for local roads and less pressure on rate payers. 

“Each one of these four locations receiving funding has been selected because of its history with accidents. Every injury and every death on our roads is a tragedy. Road safety is a shared  responsibility and something we all need to work together to prevent.

“The great thing about this program is that it is people themselves who can nominate projects for funding. Locals who drive these roads every day know best how dangerous they can be and which areas are most ripe for improvement. I encourage individuals and organisations to nominate sites for consideration in the next round of funding.”

Quotes attributable to City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson

“The City of Ballarat is delighted to receive this critical funding that will allow essential safety improvements to be made at high-risk locations across the municipality.

“We thank the Member for Ballarat, Catherine King and the Federal Government for their support in these important projects via the Black Spot Funding Program. Without their ongoing financial assistance, valuable projects that keep our community safe would not be possible.

“Maintenance and upgrades of roads is an ongoing issue faced by all regional and rural councils and financial support that is accessible in a streamlined process is certainly welcomed.”