Trucks, bikes just centimetres apart
CYCLISTS and trucks are continuing to come dangerously close on a major Bellarine Peninsula road while authorities consider options to improve safety.
No changes have been made or promised for Portarlington-Queenscliff Rd, despite seven weeks passing since VicRoads held a community meeting to discuss safety concerns.
It comes as local advocacy group Bike Safe Geelong posted a video on Facebook this week showing a truck driving at 100km/h coming within inches of a cyclist on the road.
The group wants the speed limit reduced to
While Bike Safe Geelong said it was pleased VicRoads was exploring safety upgrades, it remained concerned about the lack of detail on when changes would be made.
Its president Garry Laver — who was the cyclist captured in the footage posted this week — said bike riders on Queenscliff Rd were having close shaves with vehicles every day.
“We know serious injur- ies and deaths for cyclists are most likely to occur where there are 100km/h and no road shoulders, and the edges of the road are breaking said.
“(But) this is a community issue, not just a cycling issue.
“There were bus drivers, truck drivers, farmers, cyclists, residents and all sorts of people represented (at the meeting), because so many people are just concerned about how unsafe that road is.”
Bike Safe Geelong — which identifies Queenscliff Rd as the most hazardous in the region — paid for the installation of cyclist warning signs along the road last year.
Mr Laver said the issue was becoming more important as more people moved to the Bellarine Peninsula.
“Towns are all growing at away,” he a great rate, so the number of cars and heavy vehicles on the road has increased dramatically, making it much more dangerous,” he said.
“Roads like Portarlington-Queenscliff Rd are really 1960s infrastructure.”
Road Safety Minister Luke Donnellan said the State Government had invested $600,000 to undertake planning and investigate safety upgrades to the road. “I know VicRoads is working hard to develop improvement options that will boost safety for everyone that uses this road,” he said.
VicRoads south west regional director Mark Koliba said feedback from the June meeting in June was helping the agency develop options.
“We will keep the community updated as our investigation work progresses,” he said.