Inverloch driven mad

WITH traffic hitting its peak over the Christmas and New Year break, residents in Inverloch’s Surf Parade claimed the recently installed chicanes cause more harm than good.

Bass Coast Shire Council installed the chicanes last year to slow down traffic in the narrow street and create a safe environment for people accessing the beach.

However, residents believe the chicances have had the opposite effect, with drivers rushing to the chicanes to go through before oncoming traffic and hoons treating the obstacles as a game.

“Most of the time people are courteous but we do hear and see people driving aggressively through the chicanes. The skid marks are there as evidence; it’s definitely a concern,” Surf Parade resident Col Boyd said.

“The chicanes have become a challenge and allegedly there’s a local record for who can go through the fastest.”

Kate Edwards from Inverloch’s Big 4 Holiday Park said drivers failed to display etiquette when travelling through the chicanes during busy times.

“There are no signs to say who goes first and on a busy day, cars are lined up bumper to bumper waiting to get through,” she said.

“It has been a disaster. Chicanes make people speed and it’s no surprise they haven’t worked.”

Ms Edwards said the speed humps – which were installed at the same time as the chicanes – had been effective and the chicanes should be replaced with more speed humps.

“Visitors were frustrated and asked us why chicanes were put in here when they don’t work in Melbourne,” Ms Edwards said.

“They would prefer to see more speed humps than the chicanes.”

Some improvements were made following council’s November meeting. These improvements included completing the unfinished road surface painting, widening and asphalting the area behind all one way slow points, relocating guideposts to allow pedestrians and cyclists to navigate through the chicanes, and extra hazard marker signs.

“These works were completed in December. In addition, we have been monitoring the operation of traffic calming devices through the Christmas and New Year period by visual traffic surveys and with traffic counters,” council’s general manager infrastructure Felicity Sist said.

“What we are looking at is whether drivers, pedestrians and cyclists are able to navigate the devices safely, with care and at appropriate speeds. The results are currently being collated and will be made available on council’s website once completed.”

However, although there have been no accidents, there have been plenty of near misses through the chicanes.

Mr Boyd believed the chicanes could be improved with a footpath.

“It was my understanding the chicanes would be implemented in conjunction with the footpath,” he said.

“Putting the footpath in would alleviate the danger for cyclists and pedestrians. We as a community have a responsibility to make sure families can visit our town with their children and feel safe. Pedestrians and cyclists are not seen as a priority.”

Mr Boyd’s wife Yolande Field had a close encounter with oncoming traffic when she tried to go through the chicanes on her bike.

“The chicanes weren’t designed for bikes and pedestrians and now using the road is more dangerous for them than before,” Mr Boyd said.

“There’s an intersection point in the chicanes where if people aren’t careful, they will hit pedestrians or cyclists. The chicanes aren’t wide enough for everyone and it’s a real issue. The chicanes and a footpath should’ve come as a whole package. This is a half done job.”

Mr Boyd said he had hoped to see a footpath developed in 2016 to ensure no accidents occur along Surf Parade.

“Inverloch is an active town and the footpath would certainly be used for things like the Park Run, triathlons, general recreation and for children to get to school. It would be fantastic,” he said.

Too dangerous: Col Boyd, a resident of Inverloch’s Surf Parade, points out the dangers of cars and cyclists travelling through the chicanes, as well as the skid marks caused by drivers travelling at excessive speeds through the one way point.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Feb 9 2016. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry