Surfside safety fears
INVERLOCH residents claim having chicanes along their popular coastal road will not help slow down traffic.
Residents along Surf Parade had hoped the chicanes would be removed before summer hits.
Bass Coast Shire Council has voted to keep the chicanes and speed humps, but a few adjustments will be made, as advised by an independent road safety auditor.
Works include completing the unfinished road surface painting, widening and asphalting the area behind all one way slow points and relocating guideposts in the vicinity of the one way slow points to allow pedestrians and cyclists to navigate through the chicanes. Extra hazard marker signs will be added.
“This has become a controversial topic and it’s certainly something that has to be done,” Cr Clare Le Serve said.
“This is what the road engineers have recommended and they know their stuff. My only criticism is initially the study was taken in September, which is not a busy time of year.
“It would’ve been better if it had happened over the peak period but I know monitoring will continue and I hope tweaking will happen automatically. We want everyone to enjoy the area and stay safe on the road.”
But the community is unhappy.
“It’s disappointing the community hasn’t been listened to,” Big 4 Inverloch Holiday Park owner Kate Edwards said.
“The chicanes have proven to be ineffective in Melbourne, in other communities and in other coastal towns. It hasn’t helped slow the traffic. People speed up as they approach the slow points and it’s not even the peak time yet. The results could be disastrous.”
Ms Edwards said the lack of signs near the chicanes could cause problems.
“There’s no basic instruction as to who goes first. If there was time for an audit, there’s time to put up a sign,” she said.
“We don’t want to prevent our tourists from coming here. We don’t know how this will affect the tourism season, but there’s a good reason why no one uses chicanes.”
The chicanes and speed humps were constructed a few months ago using national black spot safety improvement program funds due to the crash history recorded along Surf Parade, Inverloch.
This was to slow traffic to improve safety.
“We were happy with the speed humps but the chicanes don’t work. Plenty of drivers still speed up, and it’s still the quiet season,” Ms Edwards said.
The ancillary works are planned to start today (November 24) and are expected to take two to three days.
The road surface painting works are planned to start on December 7 and expected to take three to four days to complete, weather permitting.
There may be disruptions to residents and road users during these works. Council will try to minimise the inconvenience.
Deputy mayor Cr Bradley Drew believed the changes would help protect the community.
“This area has been highlighted as black spot due to the number of accidents that have happened on the road. Luckily there have been no fatalities,” Cr Drew said.
“We have to be proactive and prevent any more accidents, rather than be reactive when they happen. This outcome is important and will protect the community.”
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Nov 24 2015. 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
