Main Roads starts testing Greenmount Hill arrester beds

25/7/94

Main Roads today began testing two arrester beds designed for installation on Greenmount Hill to improve traffic safety.

Over the next fortnight, both direct and side entry type arrester beds will be tested for their effectiveness in stopping heavy vehicles in emergency situations.

Transport Minister Eric Charlton, who attended the first arrester bed test today, said the trials were important in finalising the design of the two beds before installation on Greenmount.

"The effectiveness of these beds will be tested at various speeds over the next two weeks because to be practical on Greenmount Hill, they must be capable of stopping vehicles in excess of 64 tonnes," Mr Charlton said.

Main Roads experts would use sophisticated equipment, including high speed film to monitor the trials and evaluate the bed designs as well as the deceleration rates of the aggregate materials to be placed in the beds.

The trials are part of a $3 million Government program to improve traffic safety on the Greenmount descent.

Mr Charlton said he expected construction of the first arrester bed, just west of Coongan Avenue near the foot of the hill and running into Stuart Park, to commence in late September and be completed by December.

The second, to be located adjacent to the left hand side of the westbound carriageway between Darlington Road and Waylen Road, would be completed about March, 1995.

Four bus embayments would also be constructed on the Greenmount decline to take stopping Transperth buses off the main carriageway.

Coinciding with the start of the arrester beds trials, new advanced amber warning lights and signs began operating today on the western approach to Greenmount Hill, warning drivers of the steep decline.

The first set warns drivers of the decent one kilometre ahead and that trucks must slow down, while the second set at the top of the hill tells truck operators to use low gear.

Mr Charlton said it appeared the operators of permit vehicles were adhering to the new requirement for them to stop at the top of the hill to check their load and brakes and that all trucks were changing down to low gear before making the descent.

Also, Government and industry had agreed on reducing the maximum speed limit from 80 to 40 kmh down Greenmount Hill for vehicles with a gross weight of 22.5 tonnes or more, and there were moves at a national level to create two new categories of heavy haulage drivers' licence.

Mr Charlton said the latter initiative was designed to ensure drivers' skill and experience matched the various types of heavy haulage vehicle combinations.

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