Council faced litigation risk
Not happy: Ruby residents last Thursday oppose the closure of Ruby Road.
By Brad Lester
SOUTH Gippsland Shire Council would have faced litigation if a fatality occurred as a result of council failing to close Ruby Road.
Council would not be covered by insurance and would be exposed to legal liability if it ignored a consultant’s advice to close the road, given the high collision risk at the intersection with the South Gippsland Highway.
That was the message delivered by Cr Warren Raabe to Ruby residents at last Wednesday’s council meeting, after council closed Ruby Road the previous week.
Council voted to close the road permanently at the audit consultant’s recommendation, saying the risk of collision was high due to the y-intersection encouraging motorists to speed through and there being no right hand turning lane on the highway.
The vote came despite residents saying the intersection of the highway and Ruby-Arawata Road was more dangerous.
That road is now the only access to Ruby from the highway. Residents are demanding a dedicated right hand turning lane to improve safety.
Cr Raabe said:”Everyone turns quickly onto the eastern arm (Ruby Road). It should be stopped and that’s what the experts are telling us to do.
“We need to protect the South Gippsland community from falling in a hole should the worst happen.”
Cr Lewis conceded the consultant’s report gave council a “legally difficult problem”.
“If there was an accident at the intersection, someone could come up with the consultant’s report we now have and things could be difficult,” he said.
But Cr Lewis claimed the consultant’s report, commissioned by council, was biased, as did many Ruby residents.
“To say a y-intersection is dangerous is a gross over-simplification. I believe you can get an expert in anywhere to back up your case,” he said.
Council will now advocate for a dedicated right hand turning lane – a longer, wider lane than the current turning lane – at the intersection of the highway and Ruby-Arawata Road to give motorists turning more space and safety.
Council’s director of infrastructure, Anthony Seabrook, said council would have to lobby at a higher level than VicRoads for a bigger turning lane.
Cr Lewis was the only councillor to oppose the closing of Ruby Road. Mayor Cr Jim Fawcett was absent from the vote due to a conflict of interest. A partner in his accounting firm, Jim Pickersgill, objected to Ruby Road being closed.
Councillors Jennie Deane and Bob Newton were absent.
Council will now build a way-over and erect a give-way sign on the bridge at Ruby-Arawata Road and clear trees to improve safety and visibility.
Council will also spend $250,000 on widening and reconstructing the road.
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