Pomonal safety work underway
Work has started on a Pomonal Speed Safe Initiative with contractors beginning construction outside the town’s primary school.
Ararat Rural City Council chief executive Tim Harrison said it was great to see work start on the project, which originated from community concerns about high speeds some drivers travelled through Pomonal.
He said the first part of the project at the primary school involved creating a gathering space for student drop-off and pick-up, landscaping, widening the footpath and installing public art.
“The project aims to strongly demarcate the town, providing greater visual cues to drivers that they are travelling through a town and need to slow down,” he said.
“The first section of work at the school will provide a safer environment for the children and parents who use the area and will go a long way in helping drivers understand the need to slow down in the area.
“The community committee overseeing the project was really happy to see work start last week and the council is excited to see how the new gardens and artwork will look.”
The work underway is scheduled to be finished by late this week, with installation of artwork at a later date.
Data collected by the council last year showed about 25 percent of vehicles travelled through the town at speeds higher than the 60kmh limit.
It revealed although there were plenty of traditional speed signs, drivers were either not noticing them or were ignoring them, and as a result a more innovative approach was required
Ararat Rural City Council received $50,000 from Regional Roads Victoria’s Towards Safer Speeds Challenge grant program for the project. Dr Harrison said the council surveyed the community and received fantastic ideas about how to tackle the issue, then engaged a landscape architect to develop four concepts to help these ideas come to life. He said a group of committed residents including representatives from Pomonal Primary School, Pomonal Progress Association, Regional Roads Victoria and Victoria Police was driving the project.
Dr Harrison said with limited funding, the council could only implement one of the concepts ‘at this stage’ so the community had been asked to vote on its preferred option via email or letter, and at a drop-in session held in April.
“This consultation saw the primary school option take precedence,” he said.
Dr Harrison said the council was now seeking more funding in a bid to complete the other three ideas. The other three concepts are – 1. Sculptural town entrances – using district artists, creating large townentrance signs referencing the natural environment, surrounded by native landscaping.
2. General Store intersection – road and traffic treatments to better delineate the intersection and better manage traffic flow, and the installation of large public art pieces.
3. Pomonal Community Hall – installation of a sculptural fence, landscape plantings, signs and grouped seating areas.