By Tania Martin
barriers. 26191
Picture:
Luke
Plummer
A FERNY Creek man has accused the State Government of taking shortcuts following the announcement of safety-rails on Mt Dandenong Tourist Road.
Ed Bright has been campaigning for better road safety along a stretch of the road near Ferny Creek for the past 15 years.
But he says this new cash was another example of the government taking the easy way out.
Monbulk MP James Merlino and Roads Minister Tim Pallas announced $6,000 for guard rails last Tuesday 17 March, as part of the State Government’s community cabinet tour.
Mr Pallas said the government was taking action to reduce the road toll.
Mr Bright was also ‘appalled’ as the State Government failed to notify him of the decision.
“I knew nothing of this announcement until I was contacted by the Mail,” he said.
The cash will see the installation of guardrails at the intersection of Mt Dandenong Tourist Road and Kallamondah Road.
This follows a fatality near the intersection in January.
At the time, the Mail reported how the crash had renewed Mr Bright’s calls for safety barriers.
The crash happened shortly after 10.45am on Thursday, 15 January, on Mt Dandenong Tourist Road.
Police believe the car veered off the road, rolled down an embankment and landed in a residential driveway before exploding, killing a 22-year-old Selby woman.
The car landed at the top of the Brights’ driveway.
At the time Mr Bright said he was sick and tired of his family facing ‘Russian Roulette’ everyday at that intersection.
However, Mr Bright has described this latest announcement as a blatant bit of political spin. He said the announcement also came as the coronial inquest into the girl’s death started, last week.
“For the past 15 years, we have been consistently advised by VicRoads engineers that the erection of short sections of safety barrier between the existing driveways did not represent an effective solution,” Mr Bright said.
In 1995, Mr Bright was advised by VicRoads that the only solution was for residents to agree to an aggregation of at least five degree points to make way for one long or two medium sections of safety railing.
He said this would reduce the potential for vehicles to collide with the barrier ends.
“We (residents) agreed to the proposal prepared by VicRoads in 1996, which has been awaiting funding ever since,” Mr Bright said.
“All along we have been advised that the provision of the railing was not a major issue, as it could be met from annual recurrent funding at virtually any time.”
Mr Bright said it appeared that political heat following the death of a young girl had led to the announcement of a cheap quick fix.
“This (announcement) conflicts with every piece of professional advice received over one and a half decades,” he said.
“If $6,000 is going to fix the problem, it should have been erected years ago, avoiding the death of a young girl … I can only imagine how her parents will react to this news.”
However, a VicRoads spokesman said that in the past, it was not possible to safely install guardrails as short as this site required.
He said due to improvements in engineering technology, VicRoads now had treatments available that enabled the installation of guardrail over short sections such as this.
“These types of safety barriers, which include impact absorbing posts at the end of the railing, have proven to be effective in increasing safety and reducing the severity of crashes,” the spokesman said.
Mr Bright has also been working with La Trobe MP Jason Wood in an effort to get Black Spot federal money for a long-term solution for the road.
“The irony is that this politically expedient ‘quick fix’ is likely to undermine the opportunity to properly address the matter,” he said.
Mr Bright said although he welcomed the railing as a stop-gap measure, he has called on Mr Merlino and Pallas to ensure a comprehensive solution.
