No to safety barriers.

The positioning of the new Diggers Rest Early Learning Centre and Medical Centre has prompted calls from residents demanding the installation of safety barriers along Vineyard Road adjacent to the new complex.

Many residents feel uncomfortable with the possibility that a vehicle could easily leave the road and potentially collide with buildings.

Vineyard Road is a State Arterial Road controlled by VicRoads. Melton Council’s Engineering Services wrote to VicRoads in November regarding this issue.

Council have provided the following response from VicRoads.

“As you may appreciate, VicRoads receives many requests each year for the installation of safety barriers throughout Victoria. All requests are considered and evaluated on a state-wide basis with consideration given to factors such as the number and type of vehicles, number and type of roadside hazards, the historical safety record of the site and the implementation costs.

VicRoads has carried out a detailed investigation of the site, including a site inspection and a review of the crash history in the last five years ending 30 June 2017. It should be noted that safety barriers are primarily designed to protect the vehicle occupants from serious injury in the event of a collision with a hazard. Warrants for the use of safety barriers are based on the premise that they should only be installed if they will reduce the severity of potential crashes. That is, the consequences of an errant vehicle striking the hazard will be more severe than impacting the safety barrier itself. Safety barriers are hazards themselves, and impacts with them will generally result in at least property damage.

VicRoads’ assessment found that there are no significant roadside hazards present at this location, vehicles posed no obvious threat of ‘running’ off the road, and the delineation of the road is considered appropriate. In the context of the above, VicRoads does not consider installing safety barriers at this location at this time.

While VicRoads currently has no improvement proposals for this section of Vineyard Road, it will continue to monitor the safety and operation of the site to determine the need for any future improvements.”

Council’s Engineering Services have reviewed the VicRoads assessment and they have no objections given it aligns with the relevant Austroads guidelines associated with safety barriers.