Deadly alarm

By Dion Teasdale
THE death of a truck driver on a road in Gruyere has sparked urgent calls for the Shire of Yarra Ranges to address treacherous traffic conditions in the area.
The notoriously dangerous local roads were brought into the spotlight last week after Bunyip truck driver Greg Riley was killed in a crash on Friday, 2 June.
Mr Riley, 49, was making a delivery to a Gruyere Road property when the semi-trailer he was driving hit a tree and flipped onto its side.
The only occupant of the vehicle, Mr Riley died at the scene and the fatality is now the focus of a Victoria Police Major Collision Investigations Unit (MCIU) investigation.
Frustrated Gruyere residents say Mr Riley’s death highlights the dangers of local roads and they have called on the Shire of Yarra Ranges to implement long overdue safety measures.
Residents say the shire needs to urgently attend to maintenance of roadside vegetation, improve the surface and shoulders of roads, and petition for reduced speed limits and improved signage.
Gruyere CFA captain Matt Sartori said residents had been concerned about roads in the Gruyere area for many years but that Gruyere and Killara Roads were the worst.
“There is a high number of large trees overhanging these roads forcing trucks and larger vehicles to swerve onto the wrong side of the road,” he said.
“The roads are very narrow, Gruyere Road has an open speed limit of 100km/h with no speed limit signage, and the close proximity of trees along both roads is very dangerous.”
Mr Sartori said two other trucks in the past two years had rolled on the exact same site of the collision that claimed Mr Riley’s life.
“Unfortunately, someone has had to die to bring this issue into the spotlight. Mr Riley’s death highlights just how dangerous these roads are,” he said.
Gruyere Primary School principal Rod Barnard said he shared Mr Sartori’s concerns.
“Gruyere and Killara Roads are very windy, narrow roads. Driving conditions at the best of times are treacherous,” he said.
“Unless something is done soon, it is only a matter of time before someone else is injured or killed.”
Gruyere orchardist Peter Burgi, who lives on Gruyere Road and operates two semi-trailers along the roads, said the shire needed to implement a program of preventative maintenance.
Silvandale Transport owner Peter Bree, who also operates freight services along the roads, said he had been petitioning the shire for 10 years for improvements.
“Conditions along these roads are scary. They are not wide enough for the volume and speed the traffic moves at,” he said.
“The shire are only providing band aid measures and they seem to have an emphasis on preserving trees above preserving human life.”
Mr Sartori said the local CFA brigade had written to the shire last week requesting immediate action.
He said the brigade had identified the most dangerous trees along Gruyere and Killara Roads and marked them with plastic tape.
“We are keen to work with the shire to remove the most dangerous trees as soon as possible,” he said.
Shire of Yarra Ranges community relations manager James Martin said the shire would be happy to meet with residents to discuss concerns about the roads.
“We are currently looking at speed limits along roads in the area and will be making an application to VicRoads to reduce the speed (along Gruyere Road) to 80km/h,” he said.
Mr Martin said the shire would look at the outcomes of the MCIU investigation into Mr Riley’s death and consider further action when the investigation was completed.