Long Gully bridge is too dangerous for children to ride to school

Shane Hartland will not allow his children to ride their bikes to school because they would need to cross the bridge.

"My main concern is there is no room for push bikes to travel over the bridge in an easterly direction," he said.

Mr Hartland is among a number of residents increasingly concerned about the bridge and nearby pedestrian crossing following a truck rollover in late May.

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The driver avoided serious injury and police at the time suspected the crash happened when his load shifted.

A separate truck rolled close to the bridge in 2016 and came to rest in a strikingly similar part of the road, close to a bend.

Police were investigating whether the drivers' load shifted, they told journalists in the hours after the crash.

Below: Slide the white bar in this image left or right to compare pictures of both crashes. Story continues below pictures.

City of Greater Bendigo and residents met with Department of Transport representatives on Monday.

Attendees included a resident with a mobility scooter who said it was difficult to cross Creeth Street where it cuts across a footpath near the bridge, Mr Hartland said.

He was also among residents who went along.

Councillor David Fagg organised the meeting and said it was a very positive one.

"Council and the Department of Transport have some practical ideas to improve the safety of the trail crossing," he said.

Neither group has disclosed the nature of those ideas, but they are understood to be far easier to implement than any solution for issues with the bridge.

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Council presentation and assets director Brian Westley said any upgrades on Creeth Street would come from the transport department but that the city was continuing to invest in bike and pedestrian paths including in Ellis Street and along the Back Creek

He said people across Bendigo had flagged the need for safer and more comfortable road crossings in surveys.

The same surveys found more than 40 per cent of women and 23 per cent of men abandon walking or cycling if they come across an area that makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

The Department of Transport has been urging motorists to drive to conditions and adhere to an advisory warning at the bend, which asks people to slow to 40km/hour.

Loddon Mallee director Melanie Hotton said the department continually monitored and inspected roads.

"Safety is our number one priority, which is why we are consulting the City of Greater Bendigo and Long Gully residents to look at ways we can ensure the safety of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians around Creeth Street," she said.

Cr Fagg encouraged local residents to contact councillors, council officers and the department to let them know their experience of safety issues along Creeth Street.

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