Safety concerns on Ibbotson Street

BELLARINE residents are calling on authorities to seal a gravel road with a community group agreeing with fears that a “tragedy is waiting to happen”.

Ibbotson Street, a connecting road between St Leonards and Indented Head, is a three-kilometre stretch of unsealed road with a speed limit of 80kmh.

St Leonards resident Sue Robson’s concerns for drivers’ safety drove her to start a petition calling for Ibbotson Street to be sealed.

Within three weeks, the petition has gained more than 300 signatures.

“It’s the shortest route from one town to the other and for people arriving from Melbourne and Geelong without going all the way around the coastline,” Ms Robson said.

“All of us locals know this road is a tragedy waiting to happen and we must speak up and insist on action.”

Ms Robson said her son-in-law collided with a low-hanging tree while driving his four-wheel drive LandCruiser along Ibbotson Street on August 3.

“He was one centimetre away from becoming a paraplegic, it’s traumatic for me as a grandmother,” Ms Robson said.

“My 13-year-old granddaughter was at the time looking after her dad, I don’t want anything like that to happen to anyone else.

“Do we have to wait for death before the responsible authorities co-ordinate to properly seal this road?”

Indented Head Community Association secretary Ingrid Novosel said community concerns regarding the safety of Ibbotson Street had been ongoing for about a decade.

She said new housing estates had added to the increase in road traffic.

“I have raised the issue of needing to get Ibbotson Street sealed at least twice with [the City of Greater Geelong]council over the past 10 years,” Ms Novosel said.

“[I have] even tried to get a roundabout at the corner of Church Road, McDonald Street and Ibbotson Street to slow speeding traffic when they get to that intersection, but they wouldn’t because it was not sealed.”

Neighbour to Ms Robson’s son-in-law and Indented Head resident Tanya King said sealing the road would reduce the amount of maintenance needed.

“It’s been an ongoing conversation for years and different groups have tried to get this addressed,” Ms King said.

“We have a lot more visitors coming down this way, which means there’s constant grading of the road and more repairs happening from council, but the road continues to fall into disrepair just as quickly.”

The city completed maintenance works on Ibbotson Street last month.

“The city regularly services the road, with maintenance carried out at least three times per year,” City of Geater Geelong director of city services Guy Wilson-Browne said.

To view the petition, head to change.org/p/ibbotson-street-safety-appeal