Slower speed limit success
INTERNATIONAL modelling sensation Bambi Northwood-Blyth swapped the runway for the surf to take part in the famous Lorne Pier to Pub.
The Melbourne-born top model, who is now based in New York, finished Saturday’s 1.2km swim in 23.45 minutes.
Northwood-Blyth, whose real name is Stephanie, has turned plenty of heads at the popular coastal town where she has been spotted holidaying in recent weeks.
In 2015 Northwood-Blyth spoke about her love of Lorne and the Surf Coast for clothing website The Iconic’s #MyBeach campaign.
“I started coming to Lorne with my family ever since I was about five,” she said.“We used to always come in those long summer holidays.”
The 28-year-old has had a tough 12 months in her personal life, during which she split from her husband Dan Single. The couple were married at Byron Bay in 2014.
But her career has gone from strength to strength, with commercial success with big brands including Mango, Voodoo Hosiery, Nike, Roxy and Bonds. She has also posed for magazines including Vanity Fair. GEELONG l eaders have lauded the city’s 40km/h CBD speed limit a major success despite no extra council resources being allocated to monitor or enforce the speed.
The CBD speed limit was controversially dropped to 40km/h in 2017 after 18 months of preparation and at a cost of $250,000.
A poll conducted by the Geelong Advertiser in 2015 indicated 77 per cent of respondents were not in favour of the blanket speed limit drop, fearing it would increase travel time and lead to greater congestion.
Twenty months after the speed cut and negative feedback has been very limited, according to the City of Greater Geelong.
Director of City Services Gary Wilson-Browne said council received mixed feedback in 2017 with some drivers concerned the drop would impact travel times and increase congestion. But council pushed ahead for safety reasons after an analysis showed there had been 156 crashes in central Geelong over five years — with 52 of those resulting in serious injuries.
“There was strong support for the new speed limit to improve safety within Central Geelong for those walking, riding and driving through Central Geelong,” Mr Wilson- Browne said. “Some drivers expressed frustration about potentially slower travel times and concern about further traffic congestion.
“However, after the first six months, we received very little feedback from the community in relation to the changed speed zone.”
Despite safety concerns it remains unclear how often the speed limit is being enforced or how its success is being monitored. Mr Wilson-Brown said speeds and volumes in 40km/h zones were monitored with traffic counters about twice a year.
“We have allocated existing resources to undertake data collection and speed monitoring,” he said. “Driver behaviour and speed enforcement is the responsibility of Victoria Police.”
When asked if more needed to be invested in enforcing and monitoring the speed limit, Mayor Bruce Harwood said it was a last resort.
“Enforcement is something that should be a last resort,” Cr Harwood said.
“We haven’t had any complaints. It is a positive thing — we’re always trying to reduce the cars in the CBD.”
According to VicRoads, about 27,800 vehicles travel between Ryrie St and La Trobe Tce each day. About 2800 of those vehicles are trucks.
Mr Wilson-Browne said projects of this nature are usually evaluated between three and five years after introduction.