You may have seen the nine new speed cushions in residential streets around Mooroopna, but how do residents of nearby houses feel?
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The News decided to investigate Greater Shepparton City Council’s decision-making, the local reactions and future plans, so on Friday, May 5, it made a post on Facebook asking for public feedback on these new road features.
Some residents commended the council for its response to community outcry regarding speed, believing they should be added to additional streets.
Facebook comments in favour of the speed cushions
Sandra Telford
Need more down O’Brien St. They do slow cars down.
Danny Mc Hugh
What about putting some in Shepparton in some of the back streets like Halpin Cres for starters? People use it like a speedway, and many small children live in this street. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets hit by a speeding car.
Simone Oliver
We need these in Archer St, Mooroopna. People and trucks think our street is a race track and there are even signs saying no trucks allowed. I'm a homeowner with young children, and the danger of how this road is used is one day sure to cause serious injury.
Jenny Lister
Although they have their moments of frustration, relative to where I need to be, it is a good thing. Traffic needs to be funnelled down the main roads, even though going through Mooroopna CBD can be challenging at times. I hope it is better for the residents, I can appreciate the need to slow and also reduce traffic down those streets.
Paul Smith
McKean and Elizabeth Sts were being used as a shortcut to get to Echuca Rd by everyone. The roads were not designed for that level of traffic. I live there and am glad the speed humps are in place.
Others would rather the council prioritised the restoration of roads above added features.
Facebook comments, not in favour of speed cushions
Sharon Low
How about fixing the potholes first, including the massive damage from a botched repair job in the main street [Echuca Rd] near the lake.
Tracy Learmount
Instead of wasting money on speed humps that are not needed, the money should have been spent on fixing the roads.
Mel Brown
Yet the Echuca Rd holes aren’t worthy of being fixed? We all know the main one is beyond a joke with how dangerous it is. You have no choice but to swerve to miss it. Just going to keep ignoring it?
Tenille Smith
I feel sorry for the people living with these outside their bedroom windows hearing ‘dadonk’ at all hours as the cars cross over them and then rev their engines taking off.
Ash Richards
The only things these slow down are cars. Four-wheel drives and trucks just drive straight over them at whatever speed they want. Just a waste of money.
Brad Inman
They stuff up everybody else’s car: brake wear, engine wear, suspension wear. Speed humps are the worst for law-abiding motorists.
Roslyn Bedford
Why aren’t potholes fixed? They do more damage.
These comments and concerns were then taken to council; here’s what it had to say.
“The feedback from community consultation was generally positive and supportive of the implementation of speed cushions,” a council spokesperson said.
“The main concern from local residents was the safety of the public in relation to high traffic speeds and volumes in the residential areas.
“A key finding from the study showed that 74 per cent of vehicles travelling south along Elizabeth St were through traffic and over 40 per cent of traffic through the residential area were travelling over the 50km/h speed limit.”
The public consultation was the core of council’s decision to implement the cushions.
“The speed cushions physically slow traffic, which provides an immediate safety improvement for the local residents and road users,” the council spokesperson said.
“A key reason for the speed cushions is that results from council’s Local Area Traffic Management Study showed over 40 per cent of traffic through the residential area were travelling over the 50km/h speed limit.”
In response to concerns regarding flood-damaged roads, council defended its decision, saying the roads were inspected prior to the speed cushion implementation.
“The sites for the speed cushions were inspected prior to installation to check the condition,” the council spokesperson said.
“The major potholes being mentioned recently on social media are along Echuca Rd, which is an arterial road under the responsibility of VicRoads.
“The speed cushions have been installed by council within the residential area to improve the safety for local residents and road users.
“Council have an ongoing asset inspection process that captures sections of road that need renewal or upgrade, and these works will be programmed accordingly.
“The safety of pedestrians, cyclists and road users is a major priority for council.”
Council said the major damage to roads such as Echuca Rd, McLennan St and the Midland Hwy was under VicRoads’ jurisdiction, so the News asked VicRoads what its plan was.
“Crews have delivered more than 1670km of repair works on flood-affected roads across the state, with further work currently in progress, as part of the Victorian Government’s $165 million emergency road repair blitz,” a Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said.
“Repair works have since been completed along Echuca-Mooroopna Rd, Midland Hwy and Mooroopna-Murchison Rd in the Mooroopna area following the floods last year.”
The spokesperson also said crews were currently delivering large-scale, long-term repairs on flood-affected roads across Victoria.
“These works are targeting the state’s most badly flood-damaged roads, along with key freight and travel routes,” the spokesperson said.
“The works include completely rebuilding the most badly damaged sections of road, along with major asphalt patching, landslip repairs, drain and culvert cleaning, debris removal and more.
“In the days and weeks following October’s floods, the focus was on delivering short-term emergency repairs in order to get roads reopened as soon as possible, in order to keep people and goods on the move across the state.
“Now that floodwaters have subsided, the focus has shifted to delivering larger-scale, long-term repairs, including rebuilding and repairing large sections of flood-damaged roads.”
Cadet Journalist