Cyclist Gavin Hicks' petition to make 'dangerous' Bendigo road safer

Gavin Hicks is asking people to support his petition to make roads safer for cyclists after he was hit by a car on Sedgwick Road earlier this year.

"It's a popular place for cyclists and it's not until I drove along the road in a car did I realise how dangerous it can be," Mr Hicks said.

"The issue I have is, in some parts of [Sedgwick Road] there are shoulders, but other parts it can be quite narrow.

MORE NEWS:

"Because it is quite twisty, there's not a lot of visibility in places and it can be very risky to ride on."

While he still has very little memory of the event, suffering from amnesia as a result of the accident, Mr Hicks was told he was riding along Sedgwick Road in Mandurang around 2pm on June 1 when he was rear-ended by a car.

Police said Mr Hicks was airborne for 25 metres before landing in the middle of the road.

After being transported to Melbourne, he spent a week in the Royal Melbourne Hospital where he underwent four operations.

With the death of cyclist Jason Lowndes on the same stretch of road in 2017, Mr Hicks said there needed to be changes.

"It's a very popular place for cyclists. There's a lot of traffic on the road because Bendigo is growing," Mr Hicks said.

"We're promoting eco-friendly living and that includes bike riding, but looking at the feedback I get on Facebook, that's not the case.

"There are a lot of angry people and they believe cyclists have no rights, but I think the future needs to be cyclists and drivers co-existing together and this is a first step towards that."

City of Greater Bendigo engineering manager Ian McLauchlan said council had received a number of "historical complaints" about both the operation and/or safety of various sections/intersections along both Sedgwick and Sutton Grange Road.

"Most of these complaints relate to either intersection operation/safety, reported hoon driving behaviour, pavement quality/repairs or requests for road widening - including concerns for cyclist safety," he said.

"In recognition of historical crash statistics which included a fatal crash in 2017, the city undertook extensive investigation and subsequent design of potential safety improvements at strategic locations along the road."

Mr McLauchlan said potential improvements included shoulder widening (including on-road cycling lanes), intersection upgrades and lighting, guard rail/wire rope installation, improved signage and speed zone changes.

Mr McLauchlan said the possibility of widening the section of Sedgwick Road between McCalman Place and Storys Road, and the widening of the road to accommodate bike lanes and/or safety railing was "not physically or financially practicable".

He said limitations impacting the ability to widen the section of the road included the extent, cost and associated regulatory approval processes for vegetation removal and encroachment into adjoining crown land.

"Which the city does not manage," Mr McLauchlan said.

"Combined with the broad cost of required works, these factors led the city to determine that it was impractical to pursue widening or realignment of the section of the road.

"Hence it subsequently shifted its efforts towards pursuing other practical safety interventions."

In 2020, the speed limit along a 10km section of the road between Francis Street, Spring Gully and Claremont Place, Sedgwick was permanently reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h.

While the further speed reduction to 60km/h was not supported by council, extending the 80km/h stretch beyond Boyd Lane is being considered.

Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with the Bendigo Advertiser app. Click here to download.