Three busy Brimbank roads were rated among the worst in the municipality after new data revealing the most dangerous roads in Brimbank and Victoria has been released.
The Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) road safety star ratings covers major arterial and highway networks in metropolitan and regional Victoria and rates sections of roads between one to five stars with a lower star rating identifying a road as more dangerous.
In Brimbank, McIntyre Road in Sunshine North, Keilor Park Drive, and Sunshine Avenue in Keilor Downs were rated among the worst in the municipality and were all placed in the two-star category for safety.
On a 1.3km section of McIntyre Road, 64 fatal and serious injury crashes were recorded in the five years between 2019 and 2023.
Sections of the Old Calder Highway, the Western Highway, Green Gully Road, Ballarat Road and the Melton Highway were also rated two stars.
AusRAP ratings are calculated using a range of risk factors and information, such as average daily traffic, speed limit, number of lanes in each direction, and lane width, among other factors.
The information can be overlaid with crash data to understand how infrastructure contributes to crashes and crash outcomes, enabling road authorities to identify potential road works that will reduce risk of crashes and prioritise corrective investment.
RACV head of policy James Williams said the release of AusRAP ratings was an important step towards improving road safety and reducing the risk of serious injury and fatalities on Victorian roads.
“We know that some roads are safer than others, and these star ratings give us the evidence to prove it,” he said.
“Each additional star rating halves the risk of deaths or serious injuries. Upgrading a road from two stars to three stars halves the number of serious crashes likely to occur.
“We know that there are limited funds for road upgrades, and AusRAP provides governments with the data to be more targeted and to make decisions from a safety-first perspective.”
RACV said it supports upgrading all major roads to a minimum three-star AusRAP safety rating, with all new roads designed and built to at least four stars.
