Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor is encouraging local councils to work with residents and industry stakeholders to identify projects and submit an application under Round Six of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program (HVSPP).

Mr Taylor said the Australian Government was providing state, territory and local governments access to $98 million to fund upgrades that will improve road safety and freight efficiency.

“This is a great initiative with a long history of success in delivering safer, more productive heavy vehicle operations,” he said.

“Two important projects are currently underway in Hume and Round Six of this program is a fantastic opportunity to identify more projects that will make our roads safer.”

Projects funded under previous rounds of the HVSPP program in Hume include:

• New heavy vehicle acceleration lanes on Picton Road, a $4,559 million project allowing 3400 motorists and 470 B-doubles a day to re-enter Picton Road safely.
• Devil’s Elbow Realignment, a $1,079m project to straighten a hairpin bend on Grabben Gullen Road between Crookwell and Gunning.

“Funding available under the HVSPP is generous, with the Australian Government providing up to $5 million to cover 50 per cent of the total cost of each project,” Mr Taylor said.

“Better road and heavy vehicle infrastructure means better productivity and safer roads.”

Round Six follows the almost $190 million already provided by the Australian Government over the previous two rounds to help fund more than 135 projects across the national road network in the past three years.

Successful projects have previously included the construction of extended acceleration lanes from heavy vehicle rest areas, major intersection upgrades, sealing and road widening works, and road realignments.

In this round, the application period has been extended to 15 weeks to provide applicants with enough time to prepare proposals.

The HVSPP is open for applications from 15 December 2017 until 30 March 2018.

Guidelines, applications and more information about the assessment process, critical dates, and key contacts, are available at: http://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure_investment/heavy_vehicle_safety_and_productivity.aspx