By Derek Schlennstedt
A group of concerned Cockatoo residents are pushing for the construction of barriers along Belgrave-Gembrook Road, where over the past three months, three separate crashes have occurred including one fatality.
Gerald Shaddock, spokesman for the Cockatoo Road Action Group (CRAG21), said that parts of Belgrave-Gembrook Road had steep inclines and no barriers to prevent drivers from going over the edge.
Currently, parts of Belgrave-Gembrook Road are fenced including near the Emerald Secondary College.
But this fencing stops at Lower Grieves Road, where residents agree the most dangerous section begins.
“My main reason for getting involved was because the barriers that run through Emerald and Avonsleigh stop at Lower Grieves Road and pick up again outside Cockatoo,” he said.
“Over the last three months or so, there have been three car accidents near there, and out of those three there was a fatality where the girl lay there for three days.”
“Had the barriers been there, perhaps her life could have been saved.”
In May, a fatal crash on the road claimed the life of a 27-year-old Gembrook woman whose car left the road and rolled down an embankment.
Mr Shaddock said that had the barriers been there, they could have saved the woman’s life.
”Road fencing has proved very effective in reducing the severity of accidents when cars run off tree-lined roads,” he said.
“When someone dies up here, it affects the entire community.”
The road has also been described as becoming a major thoroughfare on weekends, with more traffic flowing towards Cockatoo for Puffing Billy.
“This section of the Belgrave-Gembrook Road is quite heavily trafficked and has a poor safety history,” Gerald said.
“We would like to see it given the highest priority by VicRoads’’.
CRAG21 has also raised concerns about the conflict between traffic and fire trucks leaving the Cockatoo fire station after there had been a number of close calls.
Chris White, captain of the Cockatoo CFA, said there had been some near misses because the fire trucks were slow to cross the pavement and some motorists were not aware of the station.
He said “initial discussions with VicRoads staff had been very encouraging,” and suggested the introduction of flashing warning signs to alert motorists when they were exiting.
