Feedback sought on Birregurra intersection fix

VICROADS has suggested a staggered layout or a roundabout as the long-term solution to a dangerous intersection near Birregurra.

There were three crashes in five days at the Birregurra-Forrest Road, Colac-Lorne Road and Deepdene Road intersection late last year, and VicRoads has been carrying out a detailed review of the intersection since then to decide on the best options to make it safer.

As part of the review, the road authority held two drop-in sessions at Birregurra’s Royal Mail Hotel last week for the community to look over the proposed plans and ask questions of VicRoads staff.

As well as a roundabout, a possible option at the crossroads intersection would be to divert one of the side roads to join Birregurra-Forrest Road further to the south, forcing drivers to slow down and make a dog-leg to travel straight through.

Both would be long-term options, so VicRoads is considering installing a Side Traffic Activated Rural Speeds (STARS) system in the short term, which would lower the speed limit on Birregurra-Forrest Road when a car approaches the intersection on the side roads.

At Thursday’s session, Deans Marsh resident Juliet Beatty welcomed the opportunity to have her say but said the sessions should have been in Deans Marsh or Lorne, as people there used the intersection more than those in Birregurra.

“The amount of residents that go across that crossing is huge, so that is a disappointment; it indicates to me that the organisers don’t really understand who uses those roads.

“Having said that, it’s wonderful – you can’t have too many of these consultations.”

She believed a roundabout could cost up to $2 million, and hoped that funding for the eventual solution would not come out of the pool of revenue for other roads in the region to be upgraded.