Residents are finally getting a sense of how Ballarat’s worst intersections could change in the future.
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Two information sessions were held at the Golden City Hotel on Thursday, with people able to see artist’s renditions of what Sturt Street could look like, and ask questions of VicRoads staff.
There have been at least 86 significant crashes and more than 130 injured over 10 years on six intersections in Sturt Street.
VicRoads released three different possible fixes, including a double U-turn intersection, the installation of traffic lights the extension of the centre median strip to restrict north-south traffic.
Ben Anderson, the team leader for road safety and traffic engineering at Regional Roads Victoria (RRV), said the Sturt Street crossroads were “some of the worst” in the Western Region.
“Driver behaviour is the most difficult thing to change. But some of the benefits of the treatments we’re considering – like traffic lights – are they’re very familiar to people, they know how to drive them.
“There’s an interest today in how the road network will function … and impacts, if any, it will have on business.
“Everyone will have a different opinion about the best possible outcome, but what we’ve got is a really good balance of competing interests: movement, access, safety, trading. We’re comfortable it’ll have a significant impact in terms of safety.”
Miners Rest resident Kylie Riddock said she relished the “opportunity to see what’s planned for the city” on Thursday.
She said she had a clear preference for which treatment she’d like predominately used along Sturt Street, with driver safety always on her mind.
“Looking at the u-turns, if you’re trying to turn into one of the side streets, there’s no way to possibly do that. I think traffic lights are the safer way to go, particularly for pedestrians,” she said.
“My husband works in freight business, so he’s up and down the street quite a bit. I worry about him being in a crash all the time.”
In a poll on The Courier’s website, almost 43 per cent of respondents said they would prefer traffic lights at intersections on Sturt Street, instead of other options floated by VicRoads and keeping it the same.
RRV Western Region director Mal Kersting confirmed they would use a combination of the three fixes, and while it might mean “a little inconvenience in not having direct access”, it will substantially improve safety.