Double-rail steel safety barriers on Romsey Road have been described as a “bureaucratic mess that has made the road less safe” and a “bumper bowling lane” disaster for local wildlife.
Residents say wildlife road trauma has increased on the stretch of road between Romsey and Hesket as animals find themselves trapped when attempting to cross.
“The barrier is waist-height and once wildlife get out in the middle of the road they’ve really got limited opportunities to get off so they tend to get caught up and hit by cars,” resident Craig Joyce told the Express.
“In the past two days we’ve seen a koala and an echidna cleaned up by cars as they have been stuck on the road between barriers and it’s rare that a day goes by and there’s not a kangaroo or a wallaby in this state.”
Mr Joyce said the barriers had created a “litany of other issues” including lack of turn-out space, no planning for bus stops and emergency stopping, and unsafe access to service roads and hidden driveways.
“We acknowledge that the road is dangerous but the fix isn’t putting barriers down both sides of the road: it’s in slowing traffic,” he said.
Residents are urging the council to reduce the speed limit from 100km/h to at least 80km/h.
Macedon Ranges Shire Council installed the barriers earlier this year after the road was identified for black spot funding due a human fatality.
Council’s director of assets and operations, Shane Walden, said the fatality occurred as a result of a driver running off the road and guardrails were the safety treatment chosen as applicable to the type of crash.
“The old guardrail design used to be a single rail that sat higher above the ground. The newer design has the addition of the double-height barrier for the protection of motorcyclists,” he said.
Mr Walden said the council met with residents in October and had identified some improvements but permanent reduction of road speed was still being assessed.
“Ashphalt works and line-marking works will be undertaken in coming weeks to improve safety at the intersection area. There will also be a 50-metre reduction of guardrails to improve sight of oncoming traffic through a deep vertical curve on the road,” he told the Express.
Mr Walden said a temporary speed reduction to 80km/h would be installed in coming weeks while the council undertook an assessment of a potential permanent speed reduction for the area.
In September, the council sought a report on the current planning and management of roads with regards to reduction of wildlife road trauma and sought guidance on a review of best-practice actions and solutions in reducing wildlife road trauma.
