By MARA PATTISON-SOWDEN
HUNDREDS of residents have been signing a petition to fix the adverse conditions of Warburton Highway between Lilydale and Warburton.
But police say the majority of collisions occur because drivers are speeding or engaging in distractions including illegally using their mobile phones.
Some of the worst areas where the highway has been closed due to turned over trucks, serious injuries and fatalities include between Russells and Norman Berry roads in Seville, Lusatia Park and Allsops roads in Launching Place and Breaside Drive and Gembrook Road in Launching Place.
Petitioner Helen Gunn said it was the out-dated road infrastructure, poor surfaces and minimal camber combined with increased traffic volumes that added further problems to the road.
“I started a petition because I’m at a loss of what to do after seven years of getting nowhere,” she told the Mail.
“Bit by bit recently VicRoads has been fantastic – they’ve cleaned drains and put big slippery when wet signs in, but the petition will reinforce the need for funding for major works.”
As a resident in Seville on the corner of the highway by Russells Road, she is often a first responder when cars collide.
“It’s a combination of off-camber and speed, but in our area it’s always when it’s wet,” she said.
“We had one car come off the other day, on its own, lost it and went across the service road and just missed the power pole.”
Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol Sergeant John Morgan said some of the factors were engineering, but in the majority of cases it was people doing the wrong thing on their phones or speeding.
“We’ve seen an increase in rear end collisions and road run-offs and a cause or factor is usually either speed or distraction.”
He said people were often tempted to pick up their phone while driving, despite the fact it’s an offence that carries a heavy fine.
“When it’s on the seat next to you, it’s human nature to want to check it,” he said.
“What people don’t realise if it’s been a serious collision where somebody was seriously injured or killed, there’s even more serious offences just for using a phone, to the extent of culpable driving.”
Launching Place resident Paul van Kaathoven has spoken to the Mail several times following a fatality outside his property last March.
“We just want something to make the place safer for the drivers and everyone who’s in the vicinity of the corners,” he said.
“Lines have been marked properly, the slashing has been increased on the verges, grading the shoulders has been a lot more prevalent – there seems to be more action to us and that’s a good thing.
“Unfortunately, it took these nasty incidents to get everyone moving on it, but maybe that could be a legacy for the future, that we’ve made it safer for everyone.”
Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe will table Ms Gunn’s petition in parliament soon, agreeing there are issues with the highway and VicRoads has been responding.
“Speed is one of the biggest issues on the highway, and my next step is to be asking the police where resourced to monitor speed on the Warburton Highway more frequently,” she said.
So far along Warburton Highway, VicRoads has installed slippery when wet signage, large reduce speed signage, directed its contractor to clean out pits and underground drains, and increased their capacity if necessary, asked Yarra Ranges Council to regrade the open drains on the service road (which they have since done), considered speed zones along the highway under the Napthine Government’s Speed Limit Review and are looking at replacing the 70km/h zone in Seville with either 60km/h or 80km/h and preparing a treatment proposal for the highway where the road surface, camber and cornering will be examined.
