A fatal truck crash on the Sturt Highway last year was followed by a chemical spill. Photo: Fire and Rescue NSW.
Just days after two people were killed in a head-on collision near Narrandera, and less than a week after another serious crash near Darlington Point, local leaders are again demanding urgent investment in one of the Riverina’s busiest and most dangerous highways.
The latest tragedy unfolded on Monday afternoon (15 June) at Euroley, west of Narrandera, when two vehicles collided on the Sturt Highway. Two people died and three others were injured, adding to a growing toll of serious incidents along the corridor.
Between July 2019 and June 2024, 277 crashes were recorded on the Sturt Highway, with almost one in five resulting in serious injury and more than five per cent proving fatal.
The more recent crash has reignited calls from the Sturt Highway Taskforce – a coalition of councils and community leaders from across the corridor – which has been campaigning for major safety upgrades to the highway.
“Today, two families are facing the unimaginable loss of loved ones who will not be coming home. Friends, neighbours and entire communities are grieving, while others continue their recovery from injuries and trauma that can leave lasting impacts,” taskforce chair and Murrumbidgee Council mayor Ruth McRae said.
The group has repeatedly warned that traffic volumes are growing rapidly as billions of dollars worth of renewable energy projects are rolled out across south-west NSW, bringing more heavy vehicles, oversized loads and freight movements onto a road network many argue is no longer fit for purpose.
Earlier this month, the taskforce criticised governments for investing heavily in renewable energy infrastructure while failing to adequately fund upgrades to the roads carrying the additional traffic. The group says the Sturt Highway is increasingly becoming a key freight route for the renewable energy sector and the national economy.
Sturt Highway Taskforce Chair and Murrumbidgee Mayor Ruth McRae OAM said on behalf of the taskforce, “our thoughts are with the families, friends and communities affected by this heartbreaking incident”.
This accident follows another serious incident on the Sturt Highway last week near Darlington Point highlighting the devastating toll road trauma continues to have on regional communities.
Leaders are sick of stop-gap measures on the Sturt Highway and want proper upgrades. Photo: Chris Roe.
The Sturt Highway is a vital east-west route connecting regional communities, industry and major freight networks across NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
It carries an increasingly complex and growing freight task, with CSIRO modelling showing some sections handle more than 300,000 trailer movements each year. Heavy vehicle and oversized freight movements are expected to increase as renewable energy projects continue to expand across south-west NSW.
The taskforce has consistently advocated for investment, estimated at between $600 million and $800 million, to deliver long-term safety improvements.
Cr McRae said regional communities were demanding stronger action on Sturt Highway safety.
“Sadly, families continue to receive the call that changes lives forever. Those families, their friends and the people who know and love them will carry this pain for years to come.
“Our communities are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for safe roads and fair investment,” she said.
“The Sturt Highway is becoming increasingly important to the nation’s freight and renewable energy future, yet communities along this corridor continue to shoulder the growing pressure without infrastructure keeping pace.
“One life lost on our roads is one too many. We cannot keep accepting repeated tragedy and then moving on as though it is simply part of living in regional Australia.
“We owe it to the families who have already lost loved ones, and to every person who travels this road each day, to do better.”
The taskforce is pleading with both State and Federal governments to take decisive action and commit to urgent, meaningful investment that delivers safer roads and infrastructure improvements along the Sturt Highway corridor.
“We urge every Australian, whether they live near the Sturt Highway or has ever travelled it, to contact their state and federal members of parliament and join the call for urgent investment before more lives are lost,” Cr McRae said.
