By Tyler Wright
Residents and business owners along Paternoster Road in Emerald are calling for more safety measures along a deceptive bend between Bailey Road and Beaconsfield-Emerald Road after a three-car accident on Saturday 3 December.
While there were no injuries and none of the drivers were taken to hospital after the incident, resident Maurizio Toneatto said the number of vehicles using the road has increased considerably over the more than 10 years he has lived in the area.
“There’s a lot of young families in the area; myself, I’ve got two young kids, the family across the road have two young kids, next door to me there’s three or four young children,” Mr Toneatto said.
“We all have pets; as well as dogs I have horses, I’ve had a dog killed in front of my house when he got out one morning and crossing the road with horses is quite a stress for us.
“There’s a lot of riders in the area that are often going up and down the road, and it’s a real concern when you see them out because of the speed of these cars.”
Mr Toneatto said he has been writing to Cardinia Shire Council for around ten years expressing his concerns and requesting a traffic study and engineering study along the strip, but no action has come from his requests.
He also wants the speed limit along the strip to be changed from 80 km/hr to 60 km/hr.
“At the bottom of Paternoster Road, they have these traffic controls that run across the road, [and] there really needs to be some of those at the bottom of the hill and at the top of the hill approaching the bend, because this is why people are hitting such speeds,” he said.
“It’s a perfect hooning section, because you can basically go flat out up or down this hill, and why some people lose control in the process, so those strips would add to the 60km restriction or limit.”
Owner of Paternoster Wines Phil Hession also said vehicles need to be forced to slow down, with the 80 km/hr limit “way too fast” on the corner.
He also said the corner needs to be widened, although current guard rails along the strip do provide some protection.
“We’re on the east side of the property, and that’s particularly dangerous because there’s a house in the firing line,” Mr Hession said.
“Most people probably think the top of the hill’s quite flat, but it isn’t…It’s a tighter than 90 degree bend, which means the unknowing driver is caught by surprise without realising it’s going to drop and it’s going to be tighter than 90 degrees…that’s when they freak out and lose control.”
A Cardinia Shire Council spokesperson said the council has undertaken a “number of safety improvements along Paternoster Road in recent years based on discussions with the Department of Transport, Victoria Police and the Cardinia Highway Patrol”.
According to the spokesperson, the safety improvement measures undertaken have resulted in a considerable number of treatments at various locations along Paternoster Road.
“In 2014, Council undertook the speed limit reduction from 100km/h to 80km/h for the entire length of the road,” the spokesperson said.
“In both 2009/10 and again in 2019/20 Federal BlackSpot funded improvement works were undertaken involving signage and line marking changes, several sealed shoulders, selected tree removals and selected crash barriers.
“In 2019, Safer Road Countermeasures, funded by Council and VicRoads, were implemented involving additional signage, audio tactile edge line marking and selected crash barriers.”
The spokesperson said the current speed limit of 80 km/hr has been reviewed, and the current posted speed is considered the most appropriate, “given the environment that this road sits within and the current Department of Transport State Speed Zoning Guidelines”.
“While the ongoing crash history of Paternoster Road has significantly declined over the past 10 years, Council’s traffic engineers will continue to review safety and monitor our roads in accordance with our responsibilities under the Road Management Act and the Road Safety Regulations.”
