A Kyneton intersection that has remained unchanged since the road it meets was the former Calder Highway is desperately in need of an upgrade, local road users say.
A two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Lauriston Road and Burton Avenue last Wednesday has brought the issue to the fore, as more and more drivers report dangerous near misses and risk-taking behaviour.
Margot McDonald drives through the intersection daily and says the difficult sharp turn could easily be improved by creating a roundabout.
“Vehicles often cut through the wide makeshift ‘parking/access area’ between the Kuppers-owned service station and the intersection, rather than attempt to make the tight turn at the intersection proper,” she said.
“The entire intersection is wrong, it’s dangerous, and there are drains everywhere.
“When driving down Burton Avenue (north-bound) with a whole lot of traffic behind you travelling at 100km/h and you want to turn left, you don’t know whether to slow down in the main road and slow down all the traffic or pull over right next to the reflector strip, which has been knocked over a million times.
“It’s crying out for a big roundabout.”
Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s director of assets and operations, Shane Waldon, said the intersection was raised by a community member as recently as last week but was a Regional Roads Victoria managed intersection.
“The section of road from Burton Avenue to the railway line is scheduled for reconstruction works, however, design and construction will be in conjunction with RRV,” he said.
“We are waiting to hear an update on RRV’s intention to schedule works on this intersection.”
Acting RRV regional director Barry Green said the intersection was not currently under review as there had been no crashes recorded there in the past five years (apart from last week’s one).
“We’re continually monitoring Kyneton’s road network to assess whether improvements can be made,” he said.
“If the community has concerns about any aspect of our arterial road network we encourage them to contact the RRV hotline on 13 37 78.”
ROAD SURFACE WOES
Ms McDonald is also concerned about the state of Lauriston Road, which is managed by the council.
She says it’s so badly damaged at its edges, drivers have to drive down the centre of the road.
“An increasing volume of truck traffic is also causing a lot of damage to the roadside verges,” she said.
Ms McDonald complained to the council last year and was told works would be done sometime this year but workers had only been sent out to roughly patch a small section of the road in March.
“Council recently did work on the Kyneton-Lauriston Road, up near the railway station, and it only took two weeks to be done and dusted,” Ms McDonald said.
“This section (of Lauriston Road) has been potholed and patched for years and years.
“The year is nearly up when they said it would be done and we just feel angry because it’s getting worse every day.”
Mr Walden said Lauriston Road between Burton Avenue and Youngs Road was on council’s capital works program to be completed in stages over three financial years.
“Our contractor is currently fixing some failures and people will have noticed works currently under way,” he said.
“Failures occur due to wet weather and waterlogging on the road shoulder or road sub base where these don’t dry out quickly.
“Recent works (since July) are being monitored as they have been affected by recent rain.
“These works were being monitored weekly and patched as necessary awaiting final seal. The final seal was laid on November 27.”
