Preparing roads for surge

The crashes include three fatalities, 125 serious injury crashes and 400 minor injury crashes. 302 of these crashes occurred on VicRoads roads while 226 occurred on council roads. 

The majority of crashes in the period occurred on roads intersecting with Sturt Street. A combined total of 28 crashes occurred on Sturt Street at the Ascot Street,  Talbot Street and Errard Street intersections. VicRoads regional director Ewen Nevett said safety continued to be the organisation's highest priority.  VicRoads, which focuses on fixing crash corridors, is planning wider Sturt Street upgrades. 

"A number of these crashes occurred at busy intersections along Sturt Street and in the CBD. We are currently working closely with Council to improve road safety in these precincts."

"We are also listening to the community as we address issues in busy areas including the Ballarat High School precinct and Skipton Street."

Ballarat Mayor Des Hudson said authorities were continuing to look at the main roads along the city’s growth zone to ensure they would cope with the volume of traffic which is expected to continue to rise. 

“We are looking are where the housing is going and estimating the traffic volumes for that area,” Cr Hudson said.

Cr Hudson said Sturt Street was primarily a VicRoads responsibility, but that all agencies were working together to recommend changes that could make the CBD safer and able to cope with a constant flow of traffic. 

Mr Nevett said VicRoads was determined to ensure its roads were able to handle traffic flow ahead of predicted growth.  "These goals are not just about addressing known crash black spots - it’s also about getting ahead of crashes and making life-saving improvements as our city grows."

Local intersection projects in Ballarat include intersection improvements at Sturt and Gillies Streets and the construction of a new roundabout at the intersection of Ballarat-Carngham Road among many others.