By Oliver Lees
Hume council will write to the Department of Transport asking that the state government explain its rationale behind the decision to lower the speed limit on either side of the Bulla Bridge, with the goal that the decision be reversed.
On January 12, Star Weekly reported that a new speed limit of 40 km/h was to be permanently enforced on Sunbury Road between Bulla Diggers Rest Road and Oaklands Road.
The state of the Bulla Bridge has been a point of ongoing concern for Hume council and members of the community, many of whom believe it is not fit to accommodate modern traffic demands.
Speaking at the meeting held on February 14, Hume councillor Jarrod Bell said he was “dumbfounded” by the decision to lower the speed limit.
Cr Bell, who holds a heavy right truck drivers license, said the new limit will make conditions more hazardous for drivers, especially trucks carrying heavy loads.
“One of the first lessons you learn is that driving a truck safely is all about momentum,” Cr Bell said.
“This 40 km/h zone will result in almost every truck effectively becoming a rolling roadblock, stalling truck momentum and robbing them of all of what they need to be able to safely drive across this ridge and then up the hill on either side.”
In a letter sent to Transport Minister Jacinta Allan on October 18, former Hume mayor Joseph Haweil outlined Hume council’s concerns regarding the safety of the bridge in relation to the potential for an increase in heavy vehicle traffic flow.
The letter stated that recent data had found that the bridge was already exceeding its daily vehicle capacity, and that the bridge’s width was more than two metres short of the standard for an arterial road.
Cr Bell said the “ultimate solution” was the construction of the Bulla Bypass, which is still in the planning phase.
Fellow Jackson Creek Ward councillors Trevor Dance and Jack Medcraft also mentioned their support for scraping the new limit.
