WORRIED: David Wakeling, Adrian Freckleton and Nicole Afford are calling for speed limits to be reduced. Photo: Kate Healy.
ANGRY residents of Yankee Flat Road in Mount Helen say their safety is being threatened by booming traffic levels and high speed limits — and authorities say they’re not responsible for the busy stretch.
The claims come after concerns were raised last week that Geelong Road traffic will become even worse, with 1600 new jobs expected at the University of Ballarat Technology Park over 10 years.
Residents say drivers are already using Yankee Flat Road as a “back way” to access the university and claim more jobs will mean more cars past their homes at 100km/h.
Nicole Afford, a Yankee Flat Road resident for 10 years, said just getting out of her driveway each morning was a “major issue.”
She said two of her neighbours have had collisions with cars as they turned from their driveways, while she has narrowly avoided disaster herself.
“I’m constantly watching what’s coming behind me because someone will come around the bend and clean me up,” she said.
“I’ve had several near misses.”
Fellow resident David Wakeling said the 100km/h speed limit along Yankee Flat Road was a disaster waiting to happen.
“It’s not will it happen — it’s when it will happen,” he said.
“There’s 30 families along here. It needs to be 80km/h.”
Mr Wakeling said he has noticed a vast increase in traffic along the road in recent times, putting it down to Geelong Road’s bottlenecks and university expansion.
“It’s going to mean another 1000 cars on the road,” he said of the jobs boom.
“Just get the speed down.”
Adrian Freckleton, a soon-to-be father of two, said he was concerned for the safety of his young family.
“It looks clear, but when you pull out you’ve got a car right behind you because they’re all going 100km/h or more,” he said.
VicRoads acting Regional Director David O’Sullivan said Yankee Flat Road residents should submit requests for speed limit reductions to the City of Ballarat, which liaises with the Moorabool Shire Council.
He said applications from council would be considered, but none had been received.
But a City of Ballarat spokesman said most of Yankee Flat Road was the Moorabool Shire’s responsibility, with only a small portion at the Buninyong end falling under the City of Ballarat's domain.
Moorabool Shire Council did not respond to repeated requests for comment.