THE City of Ballarat could be hit with vehicle damage bills worth thousands of dollars after a poorly marked traffic island claimed dozens of casualties.
Motorists were fuming on Friday night when they came to grief on the new, unmarked traffic island in Barkly St, opposite the Ballarat Fire Brigade.
At least four cars blew tyres and busted wheel rims when they mounted the curb and dozens more motorists were forced to pull over after impact.
Glenn Chaffey was travelling to Melbourne on Friday for the long weekend when his Toyota Celica struck the traffic island about 6pm, blowing two tyres and causing suspension damage.
His car will be off the road for a week and could cost several thousands of dollars to repair.
"We were just driving along Barkly St and didn't see a thing," Mr Chaffey said.
"I just heard this loud bang and turned to my fiance and said `what the hell was that?' I pulled over and had two flat tyres and two wrecked wheels."
Mr Chaffey said by the time a tow truck and police arrived about an hour later up to 50 cars had hit the curb.
Hazard signs were on site but they were not weighed down with sand bags and had blown over in the wind.
Don Borchers and his wife Vicki also blew two right-hand side tyres after hitting the island about 7.15pm on Friday.
"The police said to my wife it's very lucky she didn't roll the car, imagine driving along and all of a sudden the car hits six or eight inches of concrete," Mr Borchers said.
Another driver, Mark Buckland, hit the island about 5.25pm and is facing a $1000 damage bill.
Bob Jane T-Marts tyre centre franchisee Mick McCumber said he had not seen such a pattern of damage since the council controversially modified six intersections in Sturt St four years ago.
Ballarat Mayor David Vendy yesterday said a council worker was assessing the traffic island, which was introduced as a safety measure.
He said he was unsure if the road was a council of VicRoads responsibility and that any damage claims would be assessed on merit.