Blue Mountains City Council in New South Wales has launched a 12-month road safety awareness campaign following consultation with the community and the heavy vehicle industry.
The campaign, ‘Respect Our Code on Blue Mountains Roads’, targets users of State Government-controlled roads in the Blue Mountains region and stems from the 2016 Blue Mountains Heavy Vehicle Drive Neighbourly Agreement (DNA).
Mayor Mark Greenhill said the DNA – endorsed by major industry participants including Road Freight NSW, the Australian Trucking Association and the region’s main heavy vehicle operators, as well as Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) and NSW Police – encourages safe and respectful behaviour by all road users.
“Our roads are very busy with a diverse range of users – from heavy vehicles, cars and motorcycles, through to bicycles and pedestrians,” Mayor Greenhill said. “The primary objective of the campaign is to achieve safer conditions and improved amenity on these roads across our region.”
As part of the campaign, promotional stickers will be available for heavy vehicles that regularly use State roads within the region.
Council will also continue to work with the heavy vehicle industry, to look at ways to reduce the impacts of heavy vehicle emissions and noise.
The campaign is timely in the lead up to summer holiday traffic, but also important ongoing given the increase of heavy vehicle traffic on roads in the Blue Mountains.
“December and January are an incredibly busy period on our main roads including the Great Western Highway, Bells Line of Road, Darling Causeway and Hawkesbury Road,” Mayor Greenhill said.
“We need all road users thinking about their role in ensuring our roads are safe.
“We also need to continue to work with stakeholders to minimise the impact of heavy vehicles on our roads.
“Roads and Maritime Services are forecasting a doubling of freight on the Great Western Highway and Bells Line of Road by 2031, so all work done in this area will help keep our roads safe and create cleaner and quieter neighbourhoods.”
