Mt Egerton residents continue campaign for speed limit cut

MOUNT Egerton residents are renewing their campaign to have the speed limit reduced on a section of Ballan-Egerton Road, two years after their first attempt failed.

They have re-lodged their 2024 petition, which was signed by 14 people, with the Moorabool Shire which is now gathering up-to-date traffic data before it responds.

The section of road is a 1.2km stretch east of the township near Devlins Road and has a speed limit of 80km/h.

But residents argue that is too fast – even if it is adhered to – and want the limit reduced to 60km/h.

Some of them have driveways leading off the stretch and, with visibility limited by road bends and rises, fear someone will be severely injured or killed unless action is taken.

 

The original petition failed after council officers reviewed the limit using VicRoads guidelines, which list the 80km/h limit as appropriate.

The Department of Transport and Planning did not support a speed cut because there had been no crashes there in the previous five years, there were “minimal access points on the road” and little to no pedestrian activity.

The shire did, however, install advance warning signs and a 60km/h advisory sign before the bend approaching the stretch from Ballan. It also asked police to step up enforcement in the area.

But locals are not satisifed, some fearing turning into their driveways or exiting their properties.

And they say some who have to take their bins out to the opposite side of the road are in serious danger when they do so.

One of the residents living on the stretch of Ballan-Egerton Road, Kim – residents asked that their last names not be published – said 19 people with properties along it wanted the limit changed.

 

“We’re all ratepayers, we’re all house owners,” she said.

“We’ve got fire brigade workers, we’ve got ambulance officers, we’ve got electricians, we’ve got people (that work) in aged care, we’ve got bricklayers.

“We all want this measly little stretch changed for our safety, to pull into our driveways and out of our driveways.

“We can’t understand why it’s so difficult to make a change when we’re all wanting it.”

Kim said traffic strips had appeared at either end of the section recently and were in place for a week.

She has also placed handmade signs asking drivers to slow down beyond the rise at the approach from Ballan near her property.

Another resident, Audrey, has a driveway that enters the road with a blind rise on one side and a similarly blind bend on the other.

She said she had to take her rubbish bins across to the other side of the road, which posed a very real danger for her.

 

The same danger existed when she was exiting her driveway, Audrey said, adding that she had had to move her mailbox because her postie had considered the location a safety risk.

A third resident, Chris, said he had to wind his window down and listen for approaching traffic from the east when he was exiting his property.

“It’s very dangerous, very dangerous,” he said.

The residents say there have indeed been crashes on the stretch, including a vehicle going through a fence and a cow being hit and killed, although there have been no human casualties.

They have vowed to continue their campaign until the speed limit is reduced.

A shire spokesperson said the council, with support from the transport and planning department, did not back the 2024 petition because the 80km/h speed limit was deemed to be appropriate.

“We have recently received further requests about the speed limit and council is currently gathering up-to-date traffic data to inform a response to these requests,” the spokesperson said.