THE state government says it will take a ‘’strategic’’ and ‘’evidence-based approach’’ to tackle speeding issues on Mornington Peninsula roads.
The Transport Department’s “plan” was outlined following calls to lower speed limits on Frankston-Flinders Road and improve safety in accident hot spots.
Works are now underway to reduce the speed limit from 60kph to 50kph along a section of Frankston-Flinders Road between Hurley Court and Station Street, near Stumpy Gully Road.
However, despite repeated requests from resident groups and Mornington Peninsula Shire, Cr David Gill said there were no plans for further interventions along the busy road.
A Department of Transport spokesperson said it considered a range of factors when determining speed limits and intersections, such as traffic volume, the road environment, types of road users and crash history to ensure set limits are appropriate.
There were no recorded crashes between July 2016 and January 2022 at the intersections of Merricks Beach and Stumpy Gully roads with Frankston-Flinders Road, but the “lack of action” has upset Balnarring Beach and Merricks residents.
Stephen Grover said Balnarring Beach and Merricks Beach communities were ‘’extremely disappointed’’ at the lack of action by VicRoads, the state government and the shire.
He said there was an urgent need for action or at least a temporary reduction in the speed limit from 100kph to 80kph.
“In my view, to take no action prior to the Christmas holiday break, is negligent,” he said.
“The community have logged an urgent request to clear bush and small trees that obstruct the view to the right while exiting Merricks beach Road. We request that both these issues are resolved today.”
Cr Gill said he was continuing to lobby the state government on speed reduction issues on the peninsula, but that council had its hands tied, as speed limits were set by the government.
He accused politicians of avoiding voter backlash and sitting on their hands ‘’because they believe it is not popular to reduce speeds, even when the community is affected by their poor upkeep of roads’’.
“Our rural roads are the most dangerous in the state, and speed reduction is necessary at least while the slow process of road improvements is happening,” he said.
“Three hundred and thirty kilometres of rural dirt roads are de facto 100kph on the peninsula. Some of these cross well-constructed made roads, creating obvious issues.
“Many of the roads are high-use roads, especially in holiday seasons, and I have been pushing for years to no avail to have limits reduced in these high-risk areas.
“A recent breakthrough was all of Boneo Road being reduced to 80 from 100 and below at some spots, but the aim is to have other rural roads also reduced, such as Frankston-Flinders and Mornington-Flinders roads.”
The Department of Transport spokesperson said it was ‘’always exploring ways to make our network safer, including along Frankston-Flinders Road’’.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 25 January 2022
