Diagnosed with congenital nystagmus and photophobia at birth, Gabriel, 14, is only just learning the life skills he needs to get around Ballarat independently.

The conditions cause him to have very low vision and his eyes often struggle to focus. 

Gabriel uses a cane to guide himself whenever he walks in Ballarat’s central business district.

He said for people such as him, a 10km/h reduction in the speed limit along Sturt Street would be the difference between being able to cross the road with confidence or walking across in fear.

Late last year, the City of Ballarat unveiled a proposal to reduce the speed limit for part of Sturt Street and other CBD streets from 50km/h to 40km/h. The council recently undertook a community consultation, which revealed a resounding number of residents were opposed to the proposal.

Almost 600 residents undertook the consultation, with 68 per cent opposing the speed reduction.

However, a majority of respondents also said the current pedestrian walk phases on Sturt Street did not allow enough time to safely cross the main road. 

Before Gabriel even sets foot onto Sturt Street, he listens intently to the sound of the traffic from both directions.

“If there are any changes in the sound of traffic, I won’t cross,” he said as he stood on the corner of Sturt Street and Grenville Road on Monday afternoon, waiting for the lights to change.

“It’s hard with really busy roads like this because the traffic can change so quickly and it’s coming from both directions.” 

Once the lights have changed, Gabriel makes his way across Sturt Street.

But before he has even made into the centre of the pedestrian crossing, the lights have already changed.

His mum Amanda said that for vision-impaired people such as Gabriel, this was a constant struggle.

“For somebody like Gabriel, he is still learning the skills and steps he needs to be independent,” Ms Gervasoni said. 

“Vision-impaired people can often be overlooked, but for them something as simple as reducing the speed limit slightly would completely put their mind at ease.”

The speed limit proposal will again go before the City of Ballarat at an ordinary meeting of the council in April. 

melissa.cunningham@fairfaxmedia.com.au