A BENDIGO councillor has expressed alarm after a truck overturned metres from a walking and cycling track over the weekend.
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Whipstick ward councillor David Fagg has called for urgent road safety improvements after a truck rolled at a bridge at Creeth Street in long Gully last Saturday.
"Many trucks use that road, and there have been multiple rollovers at the bridge. There is obviously a problem which needs a solution," he said.
Police said that a 64-year-old man was lucky to have avoided serious injury when his load of apples shifted, tipping the truck.
"We have a number of witnesses that have indicated he wasn't speeding," Leading Senior Constable Niall King said.
"It's just one of those things that happen. The driver has undergone all of our testing and there's no issues there.
"He won't be getting any infringements as a result of this."
More on that story: Driver lucky to avoid injury after truck rollover
Last weekend's crash was not the only one to take place at the bend in the road over recent years.
Escapes have included those of a truck driver who avoided injury when their load of hay tipped in 2016 close to the bridge.
Slide the white bar in this image left or right to compare pictures of both crashes. Story continues below pictures.
Images taken by Bendigo Advertiser reporters and photographers at the scene of both the 2016 and 2021 crashes suggest the trucks tipped while travelling in the same direction and came to rest along a similar section of road.
Both trucks tipped while negotiating the same bend in the road, just after the intersection with Sparrowhawk Road.
At the time of the 2016 crash, police said they were investigating the cause of the crash.
They had already ruled out drugs and alcohol in the hours after the rollover and their inquiries were turning to whether the drivers' load could have shifted.
Cr Fagg said he was especially concerned about people's safety when using a walking and cycling track that crosses Creeth Street near the bridge.
"The crossing is currently very dangerous, with the heavy volume of traffic making crossing the road extremely difficult," he said.
"We need a solution that works for pedestrians, cyclists, and those on mobility scooters."
Cr Fagg was not speaking on behalf of the City of Greater Bendigo when he made the comments.
His comments reinforce an argument about fixes for the area that he took to the 2020 election, when he campaigned for fixes to make bike and walking tracks' road crossings safer.
Cr Fagg said a meeting was being organised between Regional Roads Victoria, council staff and concerned local residents.
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