By Derek Schlennstedt
Residents from Montrose raised concerns about the safety of the Old Coach Road at the Yarra Ranges Council meeting on 28 January.
Jeni Nathanielsz and Chris Tonon from Montrose made a plea to councillors, asking them to address traffic concerns along the historic road that travels from Montrose to Kalorama .
Ms Nathanielsz and Mr Tonon said an increase in traffic in recent years had exacerbated the safety concerns among the community.
Ms Nathanielsz, who has lived in the region for 36 years, said the road, which is barely wide enough for one car, has seen an increase in traffic as motorists become aware that it can be used as a shortcut between Montrose and Kalorama.
“I use the old coach road coming down and going up, a lot … at least two to three times a week.”
“My experience has been there are two definite people who don’t appreciate the road, one is the tradies and two is the tourists.”
“Tourists find it difficult on an unsealed road and if you‘re going down and they’re going up they’re clinging to their wheel. They don’t know where to go.”
“The Tradies find it the quickest way down the mountain, which is very dangerous and I nearly met one with a head on collision the other day.”
“You shouldn’t be doing more than 20km on this road.”
The road has historical significance, with the Cobb and Co coach industry using it to cart tourists up and down the mountain.
While part of the road has been sealed, the majority remains mainly unmolested, which is part of the problem.
The road is particularly narrow, only five metres in places, according to Kristian Tonon.
“The Road isn’t wide at all at, just under five metres.”
“Tourists come down and don’t know how to negotiate that road … we’ve had people fall into the ditch , and it’s just too small.”
Mr Tonon, drew particular attention to the corner Just before Brown’s road, which he said was unpassable if you met a car.
“This corner need to be widened,” he said.
“The majority of road can be managed in a straight line, but this corner particularly is just too small.”
With the Canterbury road upgrade taking place this year, Mr Tonon and Ms Nathanielsz also displayed concerns that traffic would be diverted down this road.
Councillors shared Mr Tonon and Ms Nathanielsz’s concerns and referred the issue onto the Council traffic management team.
Councillor Tim Heenan also suggested pull-in places could be utilized along the road, similar to those along Inverness road.
