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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 132 asked in the Legislative Council on 20 February 2020 by Hon Colin De Grussa

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

ROADS — CLOSURE

132. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the minister representing the Minister for Transport:

I refer to recent closures to Highway 1 in Western Australia, including a 12-day road closure of Eyre Highway over the Christmas period and the recent temporary road closure of South Coast Highway between Ravensthorpe and Munglinup on 8 February.

(1) What protocol is followed when closing a major road or highway, and can the minister please table this protocol?

(2) What entities or agencies are consulted in this decision and who makes the final decision regarding road closures?

(3) What consideration is given to heavy vehicle operators who have limited alternative routes available?

(4) Is any consideration given to the nature and types of these alternative routes, including the suitability of these alternative routes for heavy vehicle operators and whether they may require an escort to use those alternative routes?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by the Minister for Transport.

(1) The closure of roads during emergency incidents, especially level 3 incidents such as the Eyre Highway fire, is undertaken in accordance with the ''Traffic Management During Emergencies Guideline 2015'', which is administered by the State Emergency Management Committee.

(2) All hazard management agencies are consulted when a level 3 emergency incident is likely to result in a road closure. The police, however, are ultimately responsible for making the decision to close a road.

(3) When road closures occur during emergency incidents, Main Roads WA informs heavy vehicle operators of the road closures via traffic broadcasts and its travel map on the Main Roads website, and heavy vehicle updates are provided on the Main Roads heavy vehicle services website, Twitter and Facebook, and by phone from the customer information centre that operates 24/7.

(4) Transport operators can use Main Roads heavy vehicle services website to identify alternative routes. In some cases, there are no suitable detours for some classes of vehicles.