By Callum Ludwig
Kira Hennessy was making her way to work at Cherry Hill Orchard’s Wandin East site on Tuesday 17 February when tragedy struck.
At the intersection of Queens Road and Beenak Road Seville, she and Mooroolbark resident Leroy Collins collided. Ms Hennessy was unable to be revived at the scene by emergency services and Mr Collins died from his injuries on Sunday 12 February in hospital.
Calls have come thick and fast to bring serious changes to make the intersection safer, with the retired proprietor of the family-owned Cherry Hill Orchards Cliff Riseborough compiling a discussion paper for Yarra Ranges Council.
Mr Riseborough has seen the traffic conditions change during his 82 years living on Queens Road and said he was in Hastings when he got the call from his son on the day of the incident.
“He said it was not a good day, and of course told me the news which is never good to receive. I didn’t have a lot of direct contact with her but everyone in the organisation of nearly 40 people was shaken up,” he said.
“Some 26 people from our business went to her funeral in Corowa, and it was a hard day, but it would be nice to think that in this unfortunate situation that it at least may be a catalyst for the powers to be from Federal and State Governments to local Council to look at this and other intersections.”
In a tribute post for Ms Hennessy, the Cherry Hill team described her as a rising star and the ‘friendly face and bubbly voice of our phone calls, emails and social messages for Cherry Hill’.
Mr Collins’ death has also left behind devastated family and friends, including his mother Sandy who was financially dependent on her son. A GoFundMe has been started to assist her: www.gofund.me/66135ac4
As part of his report, Mr Riseborough wanted to showcase the number of dangerous intersections in the area and compiled dashcam footage of himself slowly approaching the intersection of Queens Road and Wandin East Road. Mr Riseborough is turning right from Queens Road onto Wandin East Road and has almost slowed to a stop, despite being on the through road, when a car shoots out just ahead of him without stopping at the stop sign.
Mr Riseborough had every right to be travelling at 80km per hour with the expectation the other car would stop and said if he wasn’t going steady into that intersection, he would have been t-boned, by someone that had no idea about stopping at the intersection.
“I don’t believe those intersections are fit for purpose, because they’re giving drivers a false sense of security as they can legally go 80km/h on Queens Road as the through road when people on the intersecting roads are not adhering or seeing the current signage,” he said.
“I really hoped to see some temporary measures put up such as some temporary signs just to tell people to watch out or be more careful. The full solution won’t and shouldn’t take five minutes, but as of now, the recipe for disaster has not changed.”
As per Mr Riseborough’s paper, the signage at the intersection consists of:
Queens Road, travelling East: Has a clearly visible crossroad sign, but no stop signage. Visibility to the left is good, but to the right is almost entirely obscured by a tree.
Queens Road, travelling West: Crossroad sign is partially obscured by a tree, 80km/h signposts shortly prior to the intersection. Visibility to both the left and right is obscured by fences and trees, this is the direction Ms Henessy was travelling.
Beenak Road, travelling South: Bend in the road shortly prior to the intersection, with one crossroad sign. There are no rumble strips, and only one stop sign.
Beenak Road, travelling North: One stop sign, no rumble strips and poor visibility both left and right.
Acting Director of Built Environment and Infrastructure at Yarra Ranges Council Kim O’Connor said following the tragic January crash, they have completed a safety assessment at the high-risk cross-intersection.
“We have identified additional safety improvements which include installation of advanced warning signs, rumble strips and line marking treatments to prompt drivers to slow down and make them aware of the prevailing road conditions,” he said.
“The works are anticipated to be completed within the next six to eight weeks. We’re also making similar improvements at other cross intersections along Beenak Road, which will help community members and visitors to make their way through the area safely.”
Yarra Ranges Council will also be applying for blackspot funding for intersection treatment projects at both intersections, and other high risk areas across Yarra Ranges.
“Wherever you are, in Yarra Ranges or beyond, we urge all drivers to be mindful of conditions and other road users, which will help everyone get home safely,” said Mr O’Connor.
Mr Riseborough’s footage can be viewed in full here: https://youtu.be/gCfOR75IIzs
