A leading road safety expert is concerned "serious safety risks and liabilities" of the Bridge Mall redevelopment is not being prioritised.
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Ray Shuey, a former Victorian police officer and assistant commissioner for traffic and operations, applied through freedom of information to view the City of Ballarat's road safety risk assessment of the redevelopment to allow eastbound vehicles to travel through the current pedestrian shopping mall.
However, the council did not provide any risk assessment documents to Dr Shuey, the Pedestrian Council of Australia deputy chairperson, leading him to believe one had not yet been undertaken or completed.
Last month, councillors endorsed the concept design of the redevelopment which is currently in the 'design development' stage, according to the City of Ballarat website.
The City of Ballarat has previously said a road safety audit would take place as part of the design and documentation process.
Dr Shuey said the project - where pedestrians have right of way - required a full and thorough risk assessment before endorsement and not one that was developed as part of an implementation strategy.
"It is amazing that a risk assessment wasn't a priority consideration two years ago (when the project started), particularly where a project requires a substantial change in road infrastructure and where the vulnerable are to have right of way. There are serious risks and liabilities which need to be practically addressed and/or mitigated," Dr Shuey said.
"A responsible expectation would be for these risks to be considered and documented before the planning and design phase.
"A road thoroughfare through a priority pedestrian zone should at least have triggered concerns to undertake a risk assessment in view of the terrorist incidents, locally and internationally, over the past two years."
Dr Shuey said the City of Ballarat had a major role in road and pedestrian safety.
"Nowhere in their responses or documentation has any reference been made to the safe systems assessment framework, the Australian National Risk Assessment Model or that of integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users," he said.
Reference to these frameworks would have demonstrated the council had taken a responsible attitude towards risk assessment, Dr Shuey said.
"It doesn't matter what they choose or what model they run with, it's the fact that they have done something that is visible to show that they're actually taking the risks into consideration," he said.
"We have risks everywhere you go but there's laws and rules and infrastructure that mitigate those risks."
City of Ballarat CEO Evan King said in a statement risk assessments were always included in all stages of a major project.
"The road design will be subject to a safety audit as per the statutory requirements. This will be a low speed, one-way shared zone, with pedestrian safety at the forefront of its design," Mr King said.
"A shared zone is where the road space is shared safely by vehicles and pedestrians. The maximum speed limit is always 10km/h, which is close to the walking speed for most pedestrians, and drivers must give way to pedestrians at all times. This is universally considered a very acceptable change in road infrastructure."
Further FOI details obtained by Dr Shuey show the council's mySay community feedback does not add up, with more people opposed to the reintroduction of traffic than portrayed in the council's minutes in March.
The City of Ballarat's mySay survey, conducted in 2020, received 146 respondents.
The council's March minutes shows 44 respondents opposed the plan to reopen the mall to traffic, however a mySay document shows 65 actually opposed the plan while 42 indicated their support.
Dr Shuey said the residents and some Bridge Mall traders who were opposed to reintroducing traffic had legitimate reasons, which the City of Ballarat should have considered.
One key respondent was the Ballarat Bicycle Users Group - a group of more than 300 members.
"On behalf of that group, I wish to express our deep concerns regarding the proposals to open Bridge Mall to vehicle traffic. We feel that the rationale provided for opening the mall to traffic has been severely inadequate and entirely at odds with council's strategies, especially those for transport and bicycling," the response reads.
Dr Shuey said the public view from the mySay survey was misrepresented in the documented analysis and council minutes.
"For a survey to have legitimacy, it must be individually and collectively analysed," he said.
"It is disrespectful to the community of Ballarat to ask for feedback and then dismiss the majority of comments because vehicular access was already predetermined."
The council minutes says the preparation of the Bakery Hill Urban Renewal Plan provided for more than 1000 consultations which informed the report heavily, however these consultations were not provided under FOI.
Mr King said proper consideration was given to the community consultation carried out as part of the project's development.
The final design is expected to be released in February while streetscape works are set to start in winter/spring.
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