Makeover for key blackspot on Reid Highway

• Intersection used by about 75,000 vehicles each week day

• Input from community reference group

Four lanes of traffic on Reid Highway will flow across two bridges over Malaga Drive next year once the $84 million road project is completed.

Visiting the site where earthworks are now under way, Transport Minister Dean Nalder said the State and Federal Government project would improve safety and traffic flow at the intersection, which was used by about 75,000 vehicles each weekday.

"The biggest difference is that motorists will no longer have to wait at traffic lights for a long time," Mr Nalder said. "And we are employing 50 people in the design and construction."

The project involves:

• about 1.3km of four lane dual carriageway and 1.3km of on and off-ramps

• two new separate two-lane bridges along Reid Highway over Malaga Drive with sealed shoulders to provide safe on-road cycling

• a path for pedestrians and cyclists which ties into existing paths

• realigning pedestrian and cyclist facilities on the east side of Malaga Drive

• a wider Malaga Drive to provide bus lanes both directions through two sets of traffic lights

• an optic fibre communication network, vehicle detection systems and security cameras

• street lighting, landscaping and safety and noise barriers.

It is part of a much larger $108 million project which includes the duplication of the highway from Duffy Road to Erindale Road, and the widening of the highway from Marmion Avenue to Duffy Road, which at its peak will employ up to 110 suppliers, subcontractors and other workers. It involves $67.2 million in Federal funds for Reid/Malaga roads and $40.8 million in State funds.

The Minister said it was a priority project because the intersection was the second-worst black spot intersection in the City of Swan and the 13th in Perth's metropolitan area.

"It is part of our integrated transport plan to address problem areas and improve traffic flow in and around the city," he said.

Mr Nalder said plans for landscaping and noise walls were progressing with help from a reference group of local residents, Friends of Lightning Swamp, Malaga and Districts Business Association, RSPCA and the cities of Swan and Bayswater.

"Input from these key stakeholders is critical to ensure the final solution is acceptable to not only road users, but also the surrounding community," he said.

Fact File

• Georgiou Group was awarded the design and construct contract

• Most clearing completed and two dirt mounds form the basis of the bridges

• Construction work due for completion by mid-2016

Minister's office - 6552 6400