#56 Federal Black Spot program and Safe System alignment

Our brief last week summarised key elements of the Australian Government’s Black Spot Program, which provides funding of up to $3 million for infrastructure and related treatments at sites with high crash risk. Here we extend on that topic to outline the program’s alignment with Safe System principles and practice. Having been central to Australian road safety strategies and action plans in recent decades, many readers will be familiar with the key Safe System pillars, including Safer speeds. Safer road users, Safer vehicles, Safer roads, and the additional element of post-crash response. In terms of road design, Safe System principles seek to ensure a forgiving road system and that collision forces do not exceed the limits of human tolerance. Maximum impact speeds for different crash types are illustrated in the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning’s Blackspot Program Guidelines. These guidelines can be considered generally applicable in other jurisdictions, but proponents should check for possible variations.

56-federal-black-spot-program-and-safe-system-alignment

Target areas and treatments

The Victorian Guidelines specify target areas for Federal Blackspot funding, including:

• Rural high-speed intersections.

• Urban intersections.

• Area-wide treatments/route-based treatments.

• Pedestrian and cyclist-focused safety improvements.

• Rural road blacklengths with head-on and run-off-road crashes, especially on curves and steep grades. 

• Urban road sections with run-off-road issues and turning problems.

• Mass action treatments.

  
  

Regarding Mass action and area-wide treatments, the Guidelines include treatments such as:

…the upgrading of roundabouts in a town to better cater for active transport, can be considered for funding.  Area-wide treatments, such as traffic calming and 40 km/h speed limits in residential areas, are also eligible.  These should be entered as Blackspots, with the location given as the most central or major road.

Guidance regarding treatments suggests that all potential options aligning with Safe System principles should be included for initial consideration, with final selection of treatment/s backed by benefit-cost ratio (BCR) analysis and reasoned justification. The BCR cutoff for reactive projects in the 2025-26 round was 2.5, while for 2026-27, eligibility is 2.0 or higher. BCR calculation is not specified for proactive projects, which are assessed by a Road Safety Audit and/or Safe Systems Assessment methodology.

Projects that are not safety-focused or involve unproven treatments are not eligible for funding under the program.

To support the securing of Federal Black Spot funding, Road Solutions assists councils and road authorities in identifying eligible sites, conducting Road Safety Audits and Safe System Assessments, and preparing and submitting applications.