By Jed Lanyon
Ongoing road works between Coldstream and Healesville on the Maroondah Highway will see the speed limit dropped to 80 kilometres per hour in a bid to increase safety on the road.
Yarra Valley motorists are feeling the squeeze as the highway is narrowed to accommodate roadside equipment, requiring a temporary 40 kilometre per hour speed limit put in place in a two kilometre stretch.
Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC Jaala Pulford said the works would upgrade four busy intersections with new turning lanes, install flexible safety barriers at high-risk locations, while describing the highway as a “high-risk stretch of road.”
“We’re boosting safety at sites like this to reduce the risk of fatal or serious injury crashes at intersections right across Victoria,” she said.
The state government said the safety upgrade works are expected to be complete by mid-2020, with works are taking place from Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm including some night works.
New turning lanes will be built at the intersections of Tarrawarra Road, Domaine Chandon, Maddens Lane and Maxwells Road to help drivers safely cross the busy highway.
A consistent speed limit of 80km/h between Coldstream and Healesville will be introduced and left-hand side flexible safety barrier will be installed in high-risk locations to reduce the risk of run-off-road crashes.
According to the Department of Transport, between July 2013 and December 2018, three people lost their lives and 13 people were seriously injured in collisions on this stretch of road.
