Since new traffic lights along Sturt Street were switched on in May last year, not a single casualty crash has occurred, according to Regional Roads Victoria.
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Headlines from The Courier in 2018 and 2019 note near-continual crashes, including two in one day in June 2018.
Statistics from RRV note 135 people were injured as a result of 85 crashes at these intersections between 2011 and 2017.
Since then, traffic lights were installed at Raglan, Ripon, and Ascot streets, the Windermere Street intersection was closed, and double U-turns built at Talbot, Errard, and Lyons streets.
Regional Roads Victoria mentioned the statistic almost a year to the date, when the final set of traffic lights was officially "opened" in May 2021 - there was a crash on Raglan Street that involved someone being taken to hospital in April 2021.
Ballarat West Post Office manager Madeline Edwards said the new traffic lights were a huge improvement - some of the worst accidents occurred at their Ascot Street intersection, including multiple rollovers.
"We were calling the ambulance a lot - before I was manager, we had almost a game plan in place, someone would go out and direct traffic, someone would phone the ambulance, and someone would check to see if the person was okay, and one would still have to run the shop," she said.
"We didn't have the time, and we weren't trained for that, we didn't know what we'd find when we got to the car - luckily there were no fatalities."
She agreed with other business owners that the double U-turns remain controversial - one business owner said they'd often see people attempting to drive down the wrong side of the road after making a mistake - but the changes had been beneficial on the whole.
"It's just so much safer," she said.
"We're not calling ambulances at all.
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"Especially for the firetrucks, I think, being able to come out safely and not have to worry about who's coming across, we're really happy with it."
Down the road, Turret Cafe owner Carmel West said despite her initial misgivings at the upgrades plan - particularly the sealed path along the median gardens - the safety improvements had made a difference.
"We were watching ambulances pull up all the time out here, and now we don't," she said.
"I had to eat my words, and that's ok, I'm happy with that - I was against the whole bike path, thinking it was going to be ugly in the centre strip, but no, it's lovely, they've done a good job."
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