Mum pleads for speed safety on Geelong Road

MOUNT Helen mother-of-three Jeanette Goon has called on VicRoads to extend a 60km/h speed zone a few hundred metres to include a new pedestrian refuge.

Ms Goon, who has previously spoken about safety measures on the Geelong Road-Greenhill Road intersection, said the move would add only three seconds to a driver’s journey, but could save many lives.

“The speed limit increases to 70km/h approximately 200 metres before the pedestrian refuge,” Ms Goon said.

“Traffic speeding up just before the pedestrian refuge is not an ideal situation, especially when the majority using the crossing are children. It doesn’t make any sense. It is an accident waiting to happen.”

The recently built pedestrian refuge was part of a scheme approved in March to improve traffic on the Geelong Road.

Ms Goon was one of the many residents who had lobbied for better measures to help pedestrians negotiate the traffic along the busy intersection.

“I have been using the refuge and it makes a huge difference to crossing the road,” she said.

“But VicRoads needs to remove existing signage pointing to the old crossing.”

The $800,000 of funding for Geelong Road was allocated by the previous Labor state government in 2010.

The Coalition government has committed a further $4.5 million to the infrastructure works, which includes road upgrades south of Whitehorse Road

Ballarat East MP Geoff Howard said he had written to Roads Minister Terry Mulder asking him to lower the speed limit but had not received a positive response. 

“If you have a pedestrian refuge then you are clearly expecting pedestrians to be crossing and therefore you wouldn’t want drivers to be suddenly speeding up as they approach that refuge,” he said 

VicRoads regional director Ewen Nevett said there were no plans to change the speed zone.

“However, VicRoads will monitor the use and safety of the new pedestrian facility before making a final decision,” he said.

neelima.choahan@thecourier.com.au