Two dozen protesters opposing a new 50 km/h zone on the Pyrenees Highway at Chewton have turned up to a Mount Alexander Shire Council meeting, saying the speed limit is "driving people crazy".
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Elphinstone resident John Lewis said the decision to replace a mix of 50, 60, and 80km/h speeds on the stretch of road between Chewton and Castlemaine was "nonsensical".
"It is very unintuitive to drop down from 80km/h to 50 km/h when you're that far out of town," Mr Lewis said.
"And the drop in speed is very sharp... you feel it intensely."
The new speed zone saw the 6.4 kilometres between White Gum Track in Chewton and Barker Street in Castlemaine, through the growing Wesley Hill area, limited to 50km/h from late February.
Protesters attended the council meeting holding signs with slogans calling for councillors to "use some common sense" and revoke the speed limit on Monday, April 16, while more than 1,600 people had signed a Change.org petition calling for the change.
Mount Alexander Shire deputy mayor Rosie Annear said council did not have the power to change speed limits, and that the decision was made by the department.
Limit starting point is 'silly'
Mr Lewis said he understood why the change might be necessary for the Wesley Hill Strip, but that extending the limit out to White Gum Track was "silly".
"They sited it as the starting point to make sure that traffic using White Gum Track coming onto the freeway doesn't cause problems," Mr Lewis said.
"But it is a dirt track that doesn't go anywhere except into the National Park ... the amount of cars that go down it would be so small as to be close to zero."
Protesters said the new limit had given rise to tailgating which had seen cars overtaking in unsafe places as well as truck drivers needing to use noisy engine breaks in the early hours of the morning.
He was also concerned the change was made without adequate chance for residents to have a say.
Shire councillor Bill Maltby said council was also "not consulted properly".
'The decision gives locals an increased sense of security'
Mr Walker, a Chewton resident who's group campaigned for the change, previously said public safety was at the core of the change.
"The decision gives locals an increased sense of security," Mr Walker, co-convenor of the Chewton and Wesley Hill traffic forum, said in February.
"Those who have struggled crossing the road, elderly people, people with disabilities, are really welcoming this change as it increases their ability to get across safely."
A handwritten petition which had collected the names of residents opposed to the speed limit and its starting point was accepted by council at the April 16 meeting.
A motion for a request to be made to the Department of Transport and Planning to review the change in speed limit and its starting point at White Gum Track was passed by council unopposed.
