Truckies gear up for safer breaks at Salt Creek

Tuesday 17 February 2026

The completion of the $3.8 million project delivers a significant safety and freight productivity boost, providing a place for drivers to stop, manage fatigue, and check their loads.

The new rest area, which is located near the township of Salt Creek, includes five heavy vehicle parking bays, a unisex toilet block, a metal shade structure, and picnic facilities.

The stop is accessible to drivers travelling east bound, towards Robe.

The new rest area was jointly funded 80:20 by the Australian and South Australian governments as part of the Heavy Vehicle Rest Area initiative, through the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program.

The location was selected to meet rest area spacing requirements and design guidelines for safe vehicle access and egress, while minimising impacts on adjacent properties and areas of high environmental and cultural significance within the Coorong region.

Driving while feeling sleepy, physically or mentally tired, or lacking energy, is a major heavy vehicle safety hazard, and drivers are legally required to take rest breaks to manage fatigue.

Providing well-spaced, safe rest areas for truck drivers to stop helps reduce fatigue-related crashes, improving safety along the road corridor and keeping freight securely on the move.

On average, approximately 1,200 vehicles travel along Princes Highway near Salt Creek each day, including more than 200 heavy vehicles.

During the 2020 to 2024 five-year period, there were 49 reported crashes on the Princes Highway between Meningie and Kingston, including two serious injury crashes.

The new rest area follows the completion of infrastructure upgrades last year on the Princes Highway, from Meningie to the South Australian/Victorian border, improving long-term safety and efficiency for all road users.

These upgrades were part of the $186.3 million Princes Highway Corridor upgrade project jointly funded (80:20) by the Australian and South Australian governments.

This project delivered a range of road upgrades, including road surface rehabilitation, overtaking lanes, shoulder sealing, intersection upgrades, roundabout upgrades rest areas, culvert upgrades, installation of safety barriers, Audio Tactile Line Marking and new signage.

Quotes attributable to a Department for Infrastructure and Transport spokesperson

This project is an investment in the wellbeing of the hard-working truck drivers who now have a safe space to stop when travelling east bound along Princes Highway.

Rest areas play a vital role helping heavy vehicle drivers manage fatigue, increasing productivity and keeping freight safely on the move.

This new rest area at Salt Creek will deliver long-term safety improvements for all road users, while driving regional economic growth and freight efficiencies across the state’s South East.