Road to repair
RAA Traffic Engineer Paul Leone and RAA Senior Traffic Engineer Matt Vertudaches.
Are you one of the 10,000 people who’s participated in an RAA Risky Roads survey in the past 11 years? If you’re unsure what happens after you’ve nominated a risky road or intersection, wonder no more. We’re going behind the scenes.
Words: Andrew Rasch
Since 2013, RAA has asked South Australians to nominate roads and intersections they find unsafe, confusing, or difficult to negotiate. With the latest Risky Roads survey now open, we thought we’d take an inside look to find out what happens after you’ve completed your submission.
Investigating your submission
Once you’ve hit send on your Risky Roads submission, the fun begins for the RAA Road Safety team. First, RAA Senior Traffic Engineer Matt Vertudaches and RAA Traffic Engineer Paul Leone collate the data from each submission and group them by location. This allows them to create a list of roads that might not be up to scratch. That’s the top 10 riskiest roads and intersections in regional and metro SA, as voted by you.
“We maintain a database of reported road and intersection issues and update it with information from the Risky Roads survey and other member feedback,” Matt says.
“This information influences how RAA advocates for more than 800,000 members.”
Risky Roads survey data contributes to RAA’s submissions for the State Budget, state and federal elections, other road safety consultations and local and state government planning studies.
Hitting the road
Matt and Paul travel across the state for a firsthand look at many of the roads and intersections mentioned commonly in the survey. Site visits help the pair understand the problems raised and assess contributing factors such as traffic movements, local conditions and behaviour.
“After a desktop review of crash and traffic data, we check if any improvements have already been announced,” Matt says. Paul explains that during site visits, the team measures and records relevant and appropriate data.
Measuring and recording data is an important part of a site visit.
“We collect important information about the profile and condition of the road, operating speeds and sight distance,” Paul says.
Metro and regional road assessments are considerably different. There are challenges with limited space and competing demands in the city and suburbs, while in the regions it’s managing roadside hazards and vehicles travelling at higher speeds.
“Particularly in the metro area, people want to use the road differently, whether it’s for parking, commuting, outdoor dining or cycling,” Paul says.
Stories from the road
Having done this for many years, Matt and Paul have a few stories to tell. Paul reflects on an intersection in Murray Bridge, where they were investigating feedback about red-light running.
“We’d stopped in the front of the queue at the intersection in question,” he says. “I was reading the members’ comments aloud when Matt entered the intersection on a green light.
“Matt had to stop quickly when a truck came hurtling through a red light from the side road. It was alarming but a perfect example of what we were dealing with.”
Being on the road, Matt and Paul have visited their fair share of bakeries, and each has a couple of favourites. For Paul, it’s hard to go past Two Wells Bakery for range and quality while he’s also a big fan of Pat-a-Cake Bakery in Malvern.
Matt adds North Adelaide’s Perryman’s Bakery and the Para Hills Hot Bread Bakery as other top metro choices. He’s always sure to visit regional bakeries like Balhannah, Elliston and Stone Hut in the state’s Mid North when in the area.
The final results
Risky roads and intersections will always exist. However, by combining member and community feedback with RAA’s expert assessments, we can advocate for funding to be directed to priority areas.
“Five-star solutions are often cost prohibitive,” Paul says. “But with some level of investment, substantial improvements can be made, such as upgrading a dangerous, one-star road into a three-star-rated road.”
Despite the challenges and complexities of road safety advocacy, there are many positives.
“It’s great to hear from RAA members and the wider community and investigate their concerns to improve road safety,” Matt says.
2021 Risky Roads results
Most roads that made the top 10 in 2021 have had some improvements made, and key results include:
- Funding for the late-2024 upgrade to the intersection of Victor Harbor Road and Hindmarsh Tiers Road in Hindmarsh Valley.
- A major upgrade to Main Road between Coromandel Valley and Cherry Gardens.
- Much-needed maintenance on busy corridors including Glynburn Road, Main North Road and Owen Road near Hamley Bridge.
- A major upgrade of Upper Yorke Road between Arthurton and Kulpara.
IMAGES: RAA/Mike Lockheart.
Have your say.
To nominate your risky road or intersection, visit raa.com.au/riskyroads and complete the Risky Roads survey before 4 December.
