A heartbroken widow has called on VicRoads to improve safety for drivers at a dangerous Ballarat intersection after her husband died in a collision last week.
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Well-known Ararat resident David Ryan, who was a former prison employee at the town, was driving east on the Western Freeway when he took the Midland Highway exit to enter Ballarat on November 6.
But as the 75-year-old turned right onto the Midland Highway he failed to give way to an oncoming vehicle that was driving north towards Creswick, smashing into it about 12.15pm.
Mr Ryan died in a Melbourne hospital from injuries sustained in the collision the following day.
Police said the other vehicle was not at fault.
But Mr Ryan’s widow, Kym, took to Facebook to voice her anguish after the tragedy.
“This intersection needs a speed reduction to 60km/h,” she wrote.
“I am the wife of the man that was killed. I will not be letting this go VicRoads.”
The crash thrust the safety of the Midland Highway north of Ballarat back into the spotlight after the state government listed it as one of the most dangerous arterial roads in the state.
In the five years to December 2015, three people died and 10 people were seriously injured on the road between Ballarat and Creswick.
Last week, VicRoads revealed it was looking into improving safety measures at the intersection of the Western Freeway and Midland Highway.
“VicRoads is investigating ways to make this intersection safe as part the Victorian government’s $12 million upgrade of the Midland Highway between Ballarat and Creswick,” VicRoads’ safe system infrastructure program director Bryan Sherritt said.
“We expect to finalise the designs for this stretch of road by the end of the year.”
One resident wrote on Facebook: “A very dangerous intersection. Cars come flying over that bridge and are there before you know it.”