Heavy vehicle access across Australia will receive a boost following an $8 million allocation to carry out structural assessment of vital local government bridges, roads and culverts.
NHVR Chair Duncan Gay said the funding provided in tonight’s Federal Budget would allow the NHVR and local road managers to properly assess the integrity of many local government road assets.
“This assessment is vital to allow road managers to open up new heavy vehicle networks and boost local economies by ensuring freight is moved efficiently,” Mr Gay said.
“With Federal support for proper infrastructure assessment the NHVR can now work with local road managers to improve networks by better understanding the bottlenecks for freight movements.
“This outcome is a vital win for the heavy vehicle industry and the supply chain.”
The Federal Government budget also increased funding for the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative program by almost 40 per cent.
Mr Gay said the HVSI program has provided $11.61 million for 40 community and industry safety initiatives over the past three years and the additional funding was an important safety outcome for all road users.
“The Federal Government also announced an increase in the annual HVSI funding from $3.9 million to $5.4 million in 2019-20 and further increases up to 2023,” he said.
“This is a great boost for a program that supports implementable, value-for-money projects that deliver tangible improvements to heavy vehicle safety.”
For more information visit www.nhvr.gov.au/hvsi