ANGRY residents have again called for an upgrade to a notorious California Gully intersection after a two-car collision yesterday that saw a one vehicle smash into a house.
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Crashes at the intersection of Sandhurst Road and Nelson Street are too common with residents saying cars collide at the crossroads at least once a month.
Calls to make the dangerous intersection safer were re-ignited following a three-car crash there on August 4.
On Monday afternoon there was a crash between a car and a ute towing a trailer. The car crashed into the nearby house after colliding with the ute.
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Sue Bateson said something needs to be done to slow cars down in the area.
"My daughter lives two doors up and there is a crash every three weeks or so," Ms Bateson said. "It's too hard to get across here from Nelson Street. It should have a roundabout.
"Something needs to go here to slow people down, it's shocking. My daughter see cars fly through here every night and we always think there will be a crash, there has been a few."
Nearby resident Matthew said Monday afternoon's crash between a car driven by a learner driver and the utility was one of the worst at the intersection this year.
"There's been a few here. There is probably easily one every five or six weeks," he said. "I think there is a petition or something going around to get it upgraded. It needs either a roundabout or lights.
"I travel this intersection every day for work, and at 3.30pm to 4pm is its hard to get through. You can sit there (on Nelson Street) for five minutes trying to get out."
Another neighbour, who declined to be named, said it was the second crash in the last week.
"There was one on Friday as well," she said. "I came out and saw all flashing lights and thought 'oh, not again'. It happens too often."
Bendigo Highway Patrol Leading Senior Constable Brendan Keegan said the intersection was a notorious crash site.
"This intersection has been a black-spot intersection for over 20 years," he said. "There have always been accidents here - not just little accidents, there have been some fairly big accidents on this intersection as well."
Monday afternoon's crash happened when a car driven by a learner driver allegedly didn't fully stop at a stop sign on Nelson Road before it struck a ute towing a trailer along Sandhurst Road.
It resulted in the ute's trailer flipping and the learner driver's car careering off the road and into the house.
Leading Senior Constable Keegan said even with less traffic on the roads due to COVID-19 restrictions, drivers still needed to take care.
"We request drivers at the moment to pay attention to signs," he said. "I appreciate that we are in a COVID situation (and) there's not as much traffic sometimes but we're finding people are being a bit lax on road rules.
"COVID rules change day to day but one thing doesn't change is the road rules."
Regional Roads Victoria continually monitors and inspects our network to ensure the roads are safe for the thousands of drivers who rely on them each day, including Sandhurst Road.
Data from the Department of Transport said In the five years to December 31, 2020, three recorded crashes occurred at this intersection, resulting in minor injuries to two people.
Department of Transport Loddon Mallee director Melanie Hotton said the department will continue to work with the City of Greater Bendigo and closely monitor the Sandhurst Road and Nelson Street intersection.
She also encouraged motorists to drive safely and to the conditions when navigating this intersection.
"We will continue to closely monitor and inspect this intersection to ensure the safety of the drivers, cyclists and pedestrians who use it," she said.'
"The department has not received any petitions calling for an upgrade of the Nelson Street and Sandhurst Road intersection.''
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