Question Without Notice No. 65 asked in the Legislative Council on 15 March 2018 by Hon Jim Chown
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
BUSSELL HIGHWAY — BUSSELTON–CAPEL
65. Hon JIM CHOWN to the minister representing the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the section of Bussell Highway between Busselton and Capel.
(1) What is the latest road count for the number of vehicles along this stretch of road?
(2) What is the number and severity of crashes on this road for the five years up to December 2015?
(3) What measures will be put in place to manage congestion over the upcoming long weekend?
(4) What is the largest number of vehicles that has been recorded on this stretch of road and on what date was it recorded?
(5) What are the plans to progress the dualling of this road?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1) The average weekday traffic count is approximately 14 000 vehicles per day.
(2) For the period from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015, there have been 156 crashes on Bussell Highway between Busselton and Capel. Of these, three were fatalities, 18 were hospitalised, 27 required medical attention and 108 included property damage, including 79 cases of major damage and 29 cases of minor damage. For the period from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2017, there have been 134 crashes on Bussell Highway between Busselton and Capel. Of these, four were fatalities, 15 were hospitalised, 24 required medical attention and 91 included property damage, including 65 cases of major damage and 26 cases of minor damage.
(3) Drivers are encouraged to plan their journey and allow extra travel time to and from their destination. Congestion on this section of road during long weekends is well known.
(4) The largest recent traffic counts recorded were on 27 December 2017 and 2 March 2018, when approximately 20 000 vehicles per day were recorded.
(5) There are plans to dual this section of highway, but construction funding will be subject to future budgetary processes.