CCHD was engaged to carry out spacing assessment and strategic designs on heavy vehicle rest stops along over 16,000km of key national and state roads within regional NSW, including major and minor rest stops, and lower order truck parking bays. Driver fatigue is one of the top three contributors to fatal crashes on our roads. To enable road users to effectively manage fatigue TfNSW provides and manages rest areas to help drivers manage fatigue. An effective rest stop network is made up of TfNSW and council-managed rest areas as well as in-town and commercial facilities, and truck parking bays.
The assessment undertaken involved reviewing the rest stop spacing along the entire NSW regional state road network. The methodology for the assessment included documenting the existing rest stops within the network, defining the HVRS spacing criteria based on CCHD previously developed Eligibility and Prioritisation of HVRS, determining gaps in the existing network of rest stops, checking the parking capacity of the existing sites and proposing new or upgraded sites to address HVRS gaps or capacity issues.
Findings and proposals were presented to workshops with TfNSW planning teams in regions across NSW. Outcomes from these workshops produced a list of rest areas to be progressed to strategic road design. CCHD has begun undertaking strategic designs for priority sites.