The City of Ballarat will write to the Victorian government with respect to the long-standing dangers posed by the constant flow of heavy vehicles through the centre of Buninyong.
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A notice of motion to send the letter, requesting both short- and long-term solutions to the notorious roundabout at the town's centre, was spearheaded by south ward councillors Ben Taylor, Des Hudson and Tracey Hargreaves, and unanimously endorsed by council this week.
The move was prompted by two serious truck crashes at the intersection in the space of a month, reigniting a years' long community debate over road safety in the heart of the town.
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Moving the notice of motion, Cr Taylor spoke to these recent accidents, seizing on the widely-held view that it was pure luck the second incident did not result in any deaths.
"Anyone who has seen the footage of the truck going through the intersection would be just astonished to see there were no fatalities," he said. "It's amazing that no one was seriously hurt."
"There's been that many near-misses at that intersection due to trucks because they just can't slow down [as they descend down the Midland Highway]."
The letter to the Victorian government will request that it fast-track the traffic-calming measures it promised Buninyong in 2019 after Regional Roads Victoria determined a bypass would not constitute a "viable investment", at least at that point in time.
It will also request that the government immediately review that particular finding in light of the markedly higher volumes of heavy traffic which now flow through the town's centre.
Councillor Hudson, who seconded the motion, said the risk to community safety was obvious, and should not have to result in fatalities to prompt a serious response on the part of the state government.
"Key intersections, with a history of poor crash data resulting in significant injury or death, tend to be elevated for priority funding," he said, referencing the driving logic behind black-spot funding.
"But it would be a shame if that is what it took for this to be resolved, not only for the persons who might lose their lives, but the ripple effect that loss causes to their families.
"We should be much, much better at recognising the risk using what we know from the crash data through those very close misses, whose outcomes could have been significantly worse and absolutely devastating."
The Buninyong community is expected to meet in the coming weeks with a view to discussing next moves to resolve what has become a perennial safety concern for the community.
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