Great Eastern Highway passing lanes completed in the Goldfields

• 15 new overtaking lanes provide safer passing opportunities

The State Government has completed 15 new overtaking lanes on Great Eastern Highway in the Goldfields region.

Eight eastbound lanes and seven westbound lanes, each with an average length of three kilometres, have been built along 225km of the Great Eastern Highway between Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Southern Cross.

This project was managed by Main Roads and delivered by WBHO Infrastructure Pty Ltd.

To complement the new passing lanes, WBHO Infrastructure will complete a further 6.7km of extra highway overlay and widening works on this section of Great Eastern Highway, about 30km east of Boorabbin, by mid-2017.

Comments attributed to Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:

"This 225km section of Great Eastern Highway carries about 1,200 vehicles per day and more than 30 per cent of these are heavy vehicles.  Between 2010 and 2014, there were 103 crashes on this stretch of highway. 

"These new overtaking lanes will provide regular passing opportunities, helping to reduce driver frustration.  They will also improve travel time and address safety issues that have contributed to vehicle incidents along this road.

"At each location, the highway has also been widened to provide a one metre sealed shoulder and a one metre unsealed shoulder, which further improves safety."

Comments attributed to Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan:

"Great Eastern Highway plays an important role in the regional and national road network and is the most direct sealed link between Perth and the Eastern States.

"This important infrastructure project provided direct jobs for up to 100 people during the construction period."

Transport Minister's office - 6552 5500

Regional Development Minister's office - 6552 6200