Highway work row
A DECISION to lower the speed limit to improve safety on part of the Bass Highway near Burnie shows a similar change could be implemented at Leith, where residents are fighting plans to build an overpass and bulldoze two much-loved homes.
On Friday the state government announced the speed limit on a 2-3km section of the highway between Chasm Creek and Heybridge would be cut from 100km/h to 90km/h.
The Leith community – which has been lobbying hard for the government to drop its plans for the $20m overpass and instead build a roundabout or cut the speed limit – said the decision showed speed limits were seen as important road safety mechanisms.
Leith resident Tony Downey says it added more weight to the community’s call for the government to ditch the divisive overpass plans.
The Department of State Growth said the Bass Highway carried high volumes of traffic and there had been 33 crashes on the Chasm Creek-Heybridge section over the past five years.
“Research tells us that even small reductions in travelling speeds can lead to a reduction in serious casualties,” the department said.
“This speed limit reduction is estimated to add only nine seconds in travel time through this section.”
Mr Downey said statistics showed there had been only four crashes at Leith over the past five years compared to 33 on this section of road. “This begs the question: Why build an overpass at Leith at a cost of $16m-$20m for what they say are safety reasons? There have been no crashes at all in the past three years.
“Why build an overpass that destroys people’s homes when the most popular options put forward at the consultations have been reduce the speed over a 1.3km stretch of road or build a roundabout? These options are supported by the government’s ‘Towards Zero Policy’.”
It has been suggested the push for an overpass at Leith was more about helping major agricultural industry players in the area than improving safety.
Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson said there was no other option at Chasm Creek.
He said he understood some residents were against the proposed overpass at Leith but other road users were reluctant to see the highway slowed unnecessarily when an infrastructure treatment “might in fact do the trick”.