Kialla Central resident Ross Anderson is concerned at how dangerous the intersection of Mitchell Rd and Central Kialla Rd is.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Ross Anderson has lived in the same house in Kialla Central for 40 years.
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It makes him well placed to be able to talk about traffic in the area and the concerns he has for safety.
Running past the front of his house is Central Kialla Rd.
It is a 60km/h zone, after the limit was reduced about a year ago.
Beside his house is Mitchell Rd.
That road is a 100km/h zone, and motorists on it face a stop sign at the intersection.
Mr Anderson said the intersection was a bad one, and he wanted the speed limit on Mitchell Rd in that area reduced to help make it safer.
“I’ve seen so many bad accidents in 40 years,” Mr Anderson said.
“I’ve seen at least 10 bad ones.”
Most recently was a crash that involved three vehicles on May 1, where one vehicle on Mitchell Rd did not stop at the stop sign outside Mr Anderson’s house, travelling into the intersection and colliding with an SUV travelling north on Central Kialla Rd.
A third vehicle on Central Kialla Rd was also caught up in the crash as it was happening.
Ross Anderson puts dirt over a spillage from a crash at the intersection on May 1.
Photo by
Ashley Darling
Mr Anderson was in his front garden as the crash unfolded.
“They hit very bad. The bang nearly blew my ears off,” he said.
Another crash late last year saw a car end up 50 metres into a nearby paddock from the force of the collision, and another landing on its roof.
In yet another — one he describes as the worst he has been to, Mr Anderson found his friend unconscious in a drain with blood coming out of his ear, after a collision between his bike and a vehicle.
“I’ve seen some terrible accidents,” Mr Anderson said.
“I’ve been to too many accidents. I don’t want to find anyone dead.”
Mr Anderson said his neighbour across the road had smashed cars end up in her front yard twice in about six months from crashes at the intersection.
While the speed limit was reduced to 60km/h on Central Kialla Rd about a year ago, Mr Anderson still sees a lot of vehicles that still continue through the intersection at 80km/h, or have slowed down for the nearby school, but have sped up again by the time they get to his place.
Still, he believes the speed limit on Mitchell Rd needs to be reduced from 100km/h to help make the area safer.
He said Central Kialla Rd was a much busier road now, with traffic — both trucks and cars — increasing a lot over the years he had lived there.
Mr Anderson said he had contacted Greater Shepparton City Council — which is responsible for Mitchell Rd — several times over the years about safety in the area.
He said about 18 months or two years ago, council erected some “flimsy” white posts to help.
“But they’re useless,” he said.
“I’ve contacted council so many times about it.”
One of the cars involved in the most recent multi-car collision at the intersection on May 1.
Photo by
Monique Preston
Speaking at the scene of the most recent crash, Shepparton Highway Patrol Senior Constable Darren Smith said he had been to a couple of crashes at the intersection.
While they were usually “not too bad”, he said that was mainly due to one of the roads being a 60km/h zone.
While he said Mitchell Rd had a stop sign that was visible, the 100km/h speed limit on the road “perhaps needed to be re-evaluated” by council.
When questioned by The News, council’s acting infrastructure director Janelle Bunfield said it had received a request relating to speeding concerns along Mitchell Rd, on each side of Central Kialla Rd.
Council is currently working with the Department of Transport and Planning to seek a speed limit change on this section of Mitchell Rd, Ms Bunfield said.
According to Ms Bunfield, this process is managed by the Department of Transport and Planning and can take up to three months.
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