January 23, 2015
Yarraman Community Council president Murray McGee has welcomed a decision to temporarily lower the speed limit on the D’Aguilar Highway in Yarraman, but wants it made permanent.
A flashing sign reading 50km/h appeared at the top of the hill heading in town this morning, followed further down by a 40km/h road sign.
The two new signs appeared in the wake of Wednesday’s truck accident when a B-Double jack-knifed on a wet road while entering Yarraman from the north, sliding onto the footpath near the Police Station and clipping a trailer being pulled by a 4WD heading in the opposite direction.
Fortunately no one was injured in the accident.
Mr McGee said the crash had occurred in almost exactly the same spot as a truck accident in July last year when a semi-trailer heading down the hill tipped onto its side.
That incident also occurred on a wet road and prompted Mr McGee at the time to fire off a letter to Transport Minister Scott Emerson:
“Please see reason and change the limit on the D’Aguilar Highway to 50km/h through town to prevent loss of life!” he wrote.
“The Yarraman community request that you attend to this as a matter of urgency.”
However, a few weeks later he received a letter back from the Department of Transport and Main Roads saying the limit would not be changed.
Wednesday’s crash prompted Mr McGee to comment on social media: “This is starting to get beyond a joke”.
Obviously somewhere someone in authority must have agreed.
“But are they going to make it permanent?” Mr McGee said.
“Thank goodness it wasn’t school time. The kids walk right past there on the footpath.”
Footnote: On Thursday, a smaller truck travelling down the same hill was also involved in an incident, sliding to a halt in a similar position slightly further down the road.
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