A MOTHER has labelled a bridge on the busy Kiewa Valley Highway as an “accident waiting to happen”.
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Every day Vanessa Harding, of Baranduda, drives across the bridge over Middle Creek near the Bandiana Primary School turn-off and said it made her nervous.
“I just grip the steering wheel and hope for the best,” Mrs Harding said yesterday.
“There are so many near misses.
“Trucks will come around the bend leading up to the bridge and they’ll be half on your side, which is understandable because they don’t have the room.”
VicRoads has no plans to change the spot.
But Mrs Harding said the bridge needed to be widened and the speed limit lowered.
“It’s 80 km/h before you get to the bridge and then again after so I don’t understand why it’s not that speed the whole way through,” she said.
Mrs Harding was surprised there had not been a crash and thought something should be done to prevent one.
“There is no room for error,” she said.
“When trucks cross paths their mirrors are almost touching.”
Mrs Harding said she understood many roads needed priority but she thought this one should be at the top of the list due to increasing traffic.
“I am trying to prevent a death and make people aware,” she said.
VicRoads regional director Bryan Sherritt said in a prepared statement that the bridge complied with VicRoads standards and it had no plans to widen it or lower the speed limit.
“In 2012 the speed limit was reduced to 80 km/h at the intersection of Kiewa Valley Highway and Leamah Road and Kiewa Valley Highway and John Schubert Drive, where there has been a history of crashes,” he said.
“Proposals for safety improvements, including bridge widening and speed zone reductions are considered on a statewide basis, with priority given to works at locations with a history of casualty crashes.
“There has been no casualty crashes recorded at this location in the last five years.”
Mr Sherritt said the number of property driveways and intersecting roads was a determining factor for the setting of speed limits.
“At this time, VicRoads considers there are other locations where safety improvements have a higher priority but will continue to monitor the performance of the Kiewa Valley Highway on a regular basis,” he said.