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Loddon HERALD Vol 3 No 41, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2023 ISSN 2653-1550
‘ZERO TOLL PUSH STARTS HERE’
DANGER BEND By CHRIS EARL
CALLS are growing for truck turning lanes and a an 80kmh speed limit on a notorious sweeping bend. Business owners want action before another serious accident on the Bendigo-Maryborough Road at Eddington. “We’ve been told that statistically, turning lanes are not needed but if we are working towards a zero death toll, we can’t work on stats,” said Eddington Engineering’s Simon Morrison. He has already taken the call for action to federal MP Anne Webster and member for Ripon Martha Haylett who will meet local business owners next month. Mr Morrison’s business is one of three flanking the sweeping bend near the Loddon River. Backing for action has come from Southern Stockfeeds’ director Brett Caddy. “We have 10 semis a day, sometimes more, coming to our Eddington mill and when harvest ramps up next month, that could be 30 a day,” said Mr Caddy. “We need turning lanes as a minimum. I would rather be proactive than reactive.” Mr Morrison said B-Double traffic on the road had increased with expansion of the Southern Stockfeeds’ mill. “My concern is that with the number of trucks using the road, one will end up coming through our business or the cafe next door,” he said. Laanecoorie resident Nick Angelo, who works for Eddington
More trucks travelling busy road are heightening safety concerns on notorious bend for Nick Angelo and Simon Morrison. LH PHOTO Engineering, said it was not uncommon for trucks turning off the road to sound a warning horn. Mr Morrison said the stockfeed mill had been operating at Eddington since 1945 and his business started in 1979. “Other roads where there are major agribusinesses that have started in recent years have had turning lanes put in. We need the same treatment of this section of the Bendigo-Maryborough Road,” he said. “This is one small section
of road that would be a good start locally to reduce the road toll.” One fatality has been recorded on the section of road in the last five years but Mr Morrison said increased truck activity “heightens our concerns”. The Department of Transport and Planning said on Tuesday it would assess the request to review the speed limit on BendigoMaryborough Road at Eddington by the end of this year. “The department ... regularly receives
requests for road infrastructure improvements and speed limit reviews. “We consider and evaluate each request with consideration to several factors, such as the number and type of vehicles using the stretch of road, pedestrian volumes, the collision history of the site, and the impact that upgrading the road or changing the speed would have on the surrounding road network,” the spokesperson said.
“Speed limits are set by teams of road safety specialists who review speed limits against the Department of Transport and Planning’s speed zoning policy and speed zoning technical guidelines.” The department spokesperson said it would continue to monitor safety along Bendigo-Maryborough Road. “Keeping everyone safe on our roads is our number one priority,” they said.
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