Oscar Parry
The Kyneton Bushland Resort owners corporation chair has launched a petition that will be lodged with state parliament calling for safety improvements at the intersection leading to the resort.
The petition calls for the legislative assembly to arrange the construction of a dedicated right hand turning lane into Melville Drive for northbound traffic on Edgecombe Road in Kyneton.
According to the petition, Melville Drive leads to Kyneton Bushland Resort and continues as an internal road on a subdivision of 126 lots, with the users of 120 of these lots regularly using the intersection as the only way to enter and exit the area.
The petition also states that between 2019 and 2023, there were four accidents – three of which were major and one leading to a person being hospitalised.
Resort owners corporation chairperson Jim Noy said a dedicated right hand turning lane would make the intersection “much safer”.
“It’s a designated road for heavy vehicles, and there are a lot of big trucks [that] use the road … with all the people who come into the resort … a lot of them aren’t familiar with the intersection,” Mr Noy said.
“Until we have some more bad accidents there, they’re not really interested in doing anything. But quite frankly, everyone who goes to the intersection will realise it’s not the [best] of intersections to serve a big subdivision.
“There’s just a lot of traffic movement at the intersection … and basically the only exit to that big area.”
Mr Noy said that an unofficial traffic count throughout a day in May last year recorded 1636 traffic movements.
Star Weekly understands that after a 2003 meeting between Macedon Ranges, VicRoads, and Kyneton Bushland Resort representatives, VicRoads did not recommend a dedicated right-turning lane due to traffic volumes and a lack of crash history – instead suggesting other actions, such as for the council and resort to increase the entrance’s visibility.
Council’s interim director of assets and operations Rebecca Stockfeld said that the council “can play an advocacy role and is broadly supportive of any proposed improvements to road safety,“ but “given DTP is the authority who will be assessing the need for a right-turn lane … we do not have a formal stance on whether this particular proposal is justifiable at this stage.“
The department of transport and planning was contacted for comment.
The petition closes on December 14.
To sign the petition, visit: www.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/petitions/intersection-of-edgecombe-road-and-melville-drive-kyneton/
