General News
3 December, 2023
Slow down: communities win speed limit battle
By CHRIS EARL THE Calder Highway speed limit will be cut to 40kmh in Inglewood and Wedderburn. Community campaigners who had escalated calls for action since January when a New Year’s Eve truck rollover blocked the highway at Inglewood for more...
By CHRIS EARL
THE Calder Highway speed limit will be cut to 40kmh in Inglewood and Wedderburn.
Community campaigners who had escalated calls for action since January when a New Year’s Eve truck rollover blocked the highway at Inglewood for more than 10 hours welcomed Tuesday’s announcement.
High Street Wedderburn, from south of Godfrey Street to north of Reef Street, will be made a 40kmh zone by Christmas. (The new limits are now in force)
Inglewood’s Brooke Street will have the new limit from east of Grant Street to north of Houston Street by the end of January.
Road markings by Regional Transport Victoria last week also see existing 80kmh zones on the approach to Inglewood cut to 60kmh.
President of the town’s development and tourism committee Peter Moore said: “The lower 40kmh speed limit will make Brooke Street safer for motorists and pedestrians.
“Our community wants people stopping in the main street to shop and explore the history of Inglewood. The new speed limit will mean they park and hop out of their vehicles with reduced risk of cars and trucks hurtling through town,” he said.
Mr Moore spearheaded the town’s campaign, backed by the Loddon Herald, to improve safety along narrow Brooke Street after the rollover and multiple near-misses for cars and pedestrians.
In Wedderburn, Cheryl Fowler collected hundreds of signatures earlier this year with their priority the installation of pedestrian crossing lights.
“Only the other day there was a near-miss when an elderly man was crossing the street,” she said.
“We all love the news that the street will become 40kmh and will keep pushing for pedestrian lights,” she said.
Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne, in a letter received by Ms Fowler, said the Department of Transport and Planning would “look for funding opportunities for a pedestrian operated signal crossing”.
Loddon Shire Council last month told the Calder Highway Improvement Committee that Inglewood speed reductions and pedestrians lights for Wedderburn and Bridgewater were its local safety priorities.
Mr Moore and Ms Fowler had also taken community concerns for Calder Highway safety to Ripon MP Martha Haylett who confirmed the new speed zones on Tuesday.
Her press release said changes followed a review of speed limits, “a robust evidence-based process (that) is completed which considers road safety, road classification, road characteristics, abutting development, road user types and volumes amongst other factors”. She said: “The communities of Wedderburn and Inglewood want a safer Calder Highway for local pedestrians and motorists.
“I took their concerns with the current speed limits directly to the minister and am so pleased we’ve got a result.
“The reduced speed limits will improve safety for all ages, as well as for local businesses,” Ms Haylett said.