The often-quoted statistic is that rural NSW has about one third of the population, but two-thirds of the state’s road deaths.

Much has been made of the perception that state government plans to spend billions of dollars on sports stadiums in Sydney come at the expense of essential infrastructure in regional areas.

The “hospitals and schools before Sydney stadiums” line has been particularly effective for the NSW opposition, and when you live in the regions, it’s not hard to see why.

Speak to anyone who lives in Wagga and they could give you a list not only of hospital and school spending needs, but also suburban streets and rural roads that need some serious work.

Already this year, the region has seen a number of serious road crashes and it’s sadly inevitable that there will be more.

This week the state government has announced $182 million in funding to improve country road safety.

Roads Minister Melinda Pavey has promised 113 kilometres of safety barriers, 3000 kilometres of rumble strips and 2800 kilometres of wide centreline to “prevent run off road and head-on crashes”.

The problem with state government announcements these days is that they’re being made with an eye to the March general election.

On the face of it, an extra $182m spending on country roads is welcome news, but until there is actually heavy machinery at work, it’s probably going to be hard to convince the electorate that it’s not just empty promises to win back voters.

The Wagga byelection showed us that the government can remember regional electorates when there are votes on the line, so let’s hope this is a promise that will be kept.

Too often those attention-grabbing announcements gather a few headlines and then quietly disappear off the radar after voters have been to the polls and the political cycle is returned to normal.

That $182m could make a real difference to a lot of country roads. Let’s hope it is spent carefully and promptly.

Have a lovely day and take care in the heat,

Jody Lindbeck