Council safety call on avenue

City of Ballarat Councillor  Daniel Moloney called for a report into road safety along Remembrance Dive at Wednesday’s council meeting. The motion was unanimously passed.

Cr Moloney has called for VicRoads to conduct a formal report into the safety of the road which he said is necessary due to the growing population in west Ballarat. 

“I have spoken to a resident whose daughter lives off the drive and has been the first on the scene at accidents on the road many times,” Cr Moloney said.

“I am generally concerned about the large number of accidents on roads where the speed limit is 100 km/h.”

VicRoads data shows in the five years to 31 December 2016, there were three crashes resulting in serious injuries to four people on this stretch.

In the five years to 31 December 2016, there were two crashes – both which led to fatalities. 

Chair of the road safety advisory board Cr Des Hudson said council must continue to lobby and advocate for road safety as the city’s traffic volumes continue to increase.

“There is certainly error creeping into the behaviour of road users in the stretch,” Cr Hudson said.

He said possible road infrastructure – including installation of wire rope barriers – and its benefits needed to be investigated. 

“Certainly with the growth of Ballarat west we are seeing more and more cars to and from schools and the volume of traffic is increasing,” Cr Hudson said. 

He said the number of serious and fatal collisions on the road was alarming – particularly when young lives were lost. Arch of Victory and Avenue of Honour committee Bruce Price said the group had been campaigning for a speed reduction for a number of years.

“We’ve been campaigning for a number of years for the speed limit to be reduced to 80km/h an hour. We think it would minimise the accidents that are occurring on the road,” Mr Price said.

Many of the crashes have damaged Avenue of Honour trees. Mr Price said the group would not support the installation of road side barriers or wire rope barriers.

VicRoads chief executive John Merritt told Fairfax Media earlier this year more than $300 million was being spent on safety measures such as wire rope barriers.