In the usual way of elections, promises of all kinds were aired, including, most notably, one which tapped into the widely perceived need for solutions to the dangers carried by the growing flow of heavy vehicles through the town's centre.

"We're going to fix it, if we get elected," Mr Andrews reassured one reporter at the time.

Labor was elected, but nothing reveals the truth so well as the inexorable march of time. Fast-forward to mid-2022, and the risks attached to heavy vehicle traffic through the intersection not only endure, but have deepened, due to the rising volume of trucks which use the Midland Highway in their travels between Geelong and Ballarat.

Very few measures, it bears emphasising, have been adopted to reduce the risk to vulnerable pedestrians, including the children who use the nearby school crossing.

This much, says City of Ballarat councillor Ben Taylor, was painfully brought to the fore in recent months, with two serious, near-fatal truck accidents at the roundabout in the space of four weeks.

"I keep raising this with people," Cr Taylor said. "Every day there's at least one truck that comes down [the Midland Highway] that realises it can't stop, and so goes virtually straight through the roundabout."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: 'The need for a bypass is obvious'

"And what we've seen is a couple of near-miss accidents that have highlighted the concern of the community - now we need to see some proper action."

Pressure on the Victorian government from the community and other quarters, including council and former Buninyong police chief Greg Davies, has since mounted, with a traffic safety community meeting slated for 7.30pm on Thursday at the Buninyong Town Hall.

There, residents will be afforded an opportunity to discuss their concerns with state government representatives.

"We want promises with real action, not just the same political hearsay which fades after the election is over," said Robert Elshaug, who chairs the Buninyong and District Community Association's traffic advisory group and organised the meeting.

"For over 15 years we've been pushing for some sort of by-pass solution from government, as well as more immediate measures," he added, citing speed staggered speed reductions, speed cameras and a visual reduction in the width of the road as possible options.

"But the trouble is the government only seems to plan for four years, on an election-basis."

In July 2019, the by-pass option was all but ruled out in a small-scale feasibility study undertaken by Regional Roads Victoria.

The 16-page document, replete with graphics, concluded fewer than one in four truck drivers would likely use the so-called eastern link - an arterial road connecting the Midland Highway to the Western Freeway - on the footing most of the town's existing traffic, in its view, was local.

"We didn't think it was so much a traffic study as just a traffic count," Mr Elshaug said, pointing to its questionable methodology. "And it wasn't in-depth at all."

Read carefully, however, the same study - whatever one's view of its methodology - merely stated a by-pass wouldn't be a "viable investment at this point in time", meaning it could attract a business case should circumstances change.

"I think we've seen that [requisite] change," Cr Taylor said, referencing the pressures created by Ballarat's rapid growth to the west.

"Even if it doesn't get built for another 20 or 30 years, now is the time to plan for the bypass because we know how long it takes; just look at the Ballarat Western Link Road - that was planned 10 or 12 years ago and it might still be another 20 years until it's finished."

It was a view shared by Mr Elshaug, who said that long-term planning was especially critical given the recognised potential for Ballarat's western link road, once complete, to divert even more traffic to the Midland Highway through Buninyong.

"Council keeps pushing for funding of their western link road, which, without a commitment for a by-pass, is like pointing a gun at our heads," he said.

"We need a long-term program for Buninyong - we don't expect [the bypass] tomorrow, but we expect something to happen."

With another state election looming, the community is hopeful the Andrews government finally delivers on a promise made to it over eight years ago.

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