FEARS someone will one day be killed at a rural intersection have prompted a plea for an upgrade.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The intersection of the Epsom-Barnadown and Axedale-Goornong roads was the scene of a crash between a car and a four-wheel drive towing a caravan on Tuesday morning.
One of the drivers failed to stop at the stop sign on the Epsom-Barnadown Road, something resident and Goornong CFA member Mat Read said was an all-too-common occurrence.
He said the crash in the 100 km/h zone was probably the third at the intersection in the past 15 months and there had been many more near-misses.
Mr Read said the City of Greater Bendigo needed to address the intersection urgently.
“We want to get something done about it before someone’s killed there. We’re lucky no one has been, but it’s only a matter of time before someone is,” Mr Read said.
City of Greater Bendigo engineering and public space manager Brett Martini said the intersection had been on the council’s radar for several years, but the forecast benefit-to-cost ratio of an upgrade was considered low, meaning it would not attract state or federal funding.
He estimated an upgrade would cost about $500,000.
Mr Martini said the council was looking at funding the project itself, but it would probably not be considered for the 2017-18 budget.
He said they would look at preparatory work for the 2018-19 budget.
The intersection was one of about six the council had its eye on, he said.
Mr Martini said an upgrade would likely put bends in the road at the approach to the stop sign, forcing vehicles to slow down, an idea Mr Read also suggested as a possible solution.
There was already advance signage and rumble strips to warn motorists of the approaching intersection, he said.
Mr Martini said the council had repainted lines and removed vegetation in a bid to make the intersection safer, and was considering other measures.
But Mr Read said motorists continued to disobey traffic signs.