The Australian federal and New South Wales (NSW) governments have pledged US$129m (A$178m) in joint funding for “critical road upgrades” across the eastern state.

Money will go towards 141 “life-saving projects” in NSW’s metro and rural areas designed to protect road users.

Upgrades on 141,000km of road include widening, shoulder sealing, rumble strips, head-on collision prevention and barriers to prevent off-road crashes.

The initiative is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs.

Scott Buchholz, federal assistant minister for road safety and freight, said: “Making our roads safer forms part of our governments’ shared vision to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads and move towards achieving vision zero – that is zero deaths or serious injuries on our roads by 2050.”

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Barnaby Joyce, Australia’s deputy prime minister, said: “This brings the Australian Government’s total commitment to NSW to over US$304.5m (A$420m) through our US$2.17bn (A$3bn) nationwide Road Safety Program.

“Our Government is committed to keeping our communities safe, while securing our economic recovery – because investing in these infrastructure upgrades and jobs now will lay the foundations for a better future tomorrow.”