Teesdale pedestrian zone proposal rejected

THE Department of Transport and Planning has said the section of Bannockburn-Shelford Road between Sutherland Street and Teesdale-Inverleigh Road at Teesdale does not meet the criteria for a forty-kilometre-per-hour pedestrian activity precinct.

The statement was made in a letter sent to Golden Plains Shire resident Andrea Bolton, which also said that factors considered when making the decision included pedestrian volumes, speed limits, traffic volumes, the road environment, the historical safety record of the site, the impact on the surrounding road network, and costs.

The letter also stated that a formal speed zone review of Bannockburn-Shelford Road between Redgum Drive and Shaws Road is expected to be completed by the end of September.

Ms Bolton said urgent action is needed in the area.

“Many kids spend their weekend on that highway crossing over to the general store, going over to Turtle Bend,” Ms Bolton said.

“On the day I was there, it was about two or three o’clock on a Sunday and we saw kids nearly being hit on their bike by trucks.

“They’re seconds away from being killed.”

Six-year-old Caleb Wesley was killed crossing Bannockburn-Shelford Road at Teesdale in March and in April, Golden Plains Shire councillors voted to write to the Department of Transport and Planning about road safety in the township.

“After Caleb’s death I went to Teesdale and worked out how long it would take to get from Shaw’s Road to the other side of the school doing 40 kilometres an hour instead of 60 kilometres an hour,” Ms Bolton said.

“It was 70 seconds different, that’s all it would take out of their day, and yet we’re being told it doesn’t fit road users’ expectations.

“My first expectation is that children won’t be killed there.”

Since the accident, the 40km/h zone during school hours has been moved by the Department of Transport and Planning to the west of the general store.

“A 40-kilometre-per-hour speed limit was extended by 190 metres in Teesdale on Bannockburn-Shelford Road from 5 July 2025 to increase safety during school hours,” the department’s Barwon South West and Grampians executive director Michael Bailey said.

“We advise motorists to always drive to the conditions and observe speed limits in place.”

The department currently has no plans for further changes, but Teesdale resident Chris Burke said more needs to be done.

“They’ve moved the 40-kilometre-per-hour sign pretty much from one side of the shop to down the road a little bit on the west side,” Mr Burke said.

“It makes a little bit of difference I suppose at school times… but it does nothing for the kindergarten, nothing for where the buses pull in and out which is a major issue.

“It hasn’t fixed the issue of how unfortunately Caleb got killed.”