Rutherglen residents, including Indigo Community Voice President Herb Ellerbock (far left) and Roberta Horne (centre) want immediate action to improve the safety on Main Street.
Please make our main street safe!
Rutherglen residents, along with Indigo Community Voice, are again pleading for immediate action from unallocated budgeted funds for safety improvements on Rutherglen’s Main Street following a commitment from the Victorian Government.
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The new pleas come after Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell secured a commitment from Victorian Minister for Roads and Road Safety Melissa Horne to work with Indigo Shire on safety solutions for Main Street but is still questioning where the remaining unspent funds are.
Indigo Community Voice (ICV) President Herb Ellerbock said the Main Street safety issue has dragged on for too many years.
“This year we have had the tragic death of a local woman plus a serious truck accident that could have claimed my life and my wife’s,” Mr Ellerbock said.
It was Mr Ellerbock and his wife Roz’s car that was substantially damaged by the truck on March 15 this year.
“It is only a matter of time before more deaths occur,” he said.
He acknowledges the work of locals in voicing their opinions and setting up committees but wants more than that, especially by those in authority.
“What is missing, for a long time, is real leadership,” he said.
“What I haven’t seen is a plan. All three levels of government must be blamed for the inaction and delays, with buck-passing becoming the norm.”
Since 2016, Indigo Shire Councillor Roberta Horne has tirelessly advocated for making Main Street much safer. Her most recent efforts include sending Minister Horne a petition with 876 signatures requesting that she act on delivering road safety works.
Roberta Horne Sending the petition calling for the release of a report called the ‘Rutherglen Origin and Destination Study’.
Along with the installation of proper pedestrian crossings at the post office and the newsagent, plus the replacement of 1-dimensional speed humps at each end of the town, the petition calls for the release of a report called the ‘Rutherglen Origin and Destination Study.’
Produced at a cost of some $690,000 but never released, this study was to inform the plan the then Federal Minister for Transport, Darren Chester, called for when pledging $2 million from the coalition if they were returned to power and if matched dollar for dollar by the state.
Cr Horne said it’s obvious the current route will remain.
“It therefore makes it critical to more effectively manage the flow of traffic by retarding the speed, proving safe passage for all pedestrians and road users, and improving the detection of those disobeying the rules of the road,” she said.
A great deal of work has been done over the years with numerous calls for a bypass dating back more than 50 years. Shire officers and community groups have worked tirelessly to find a solution.
After the release of the Aurecon Report back in 2010 the community was disappointed to hear they had to wait for another 30 years for a bypass because they couldn’t meet the criteria to agree on an existing road network from more than a dozen available options and because there had been no fatalities on the road.
They were heartened in 2017 with the joint announcement of $4 million in funding for a study into an alternative route for heavy vehicles. They were further encouraged by the release of the ‘Delivering the Goods Report of 2018 which clearly states on page 11: +$100 million for a Rutherglen Heavy Vehicle Route. Disappointingly, this figure was amended to read $4 million. Then, last November, the Federal Government withdrew its promised $2 million. Hence the push by Ms Horne and many other local residents to have the remaining funds actioned immediately, by way of a petition.
The resident’s petition started weeks before the shocking truck accident on Friday, March 15. The truck smashed into a car, a power pole and the veranda of The Other Place Café, a building owned by David Beard.
Fortunately, there were no other parked vehicles, and no-one was on the street or footpath at that time otherwise a serious injury or death may have happened. Damage occurred to the café and electricity went out for some 27 hours until 8.00pm the following evening.
There are many frustrated residents and business owners. Frustrated at the lack of attention given to making Rutherglen’s main street less dangerous.
The Free Press spoke to several people recently after the truck accident and many decades of covering the subject of a town bypass and more recently, a heavy vehicle alternate route.
Rutherglen newsagent Di Taborsky suggested one lane only of parking in Main Street.
“Council needs to buy a couple of blocks of land and turn them into carparking blocks,” the newsagent for the past eight years, said. “And get rid of those jutting out things of concrete.
“Regarding trucks, I have to say it’s a bit unavoidable. It would cost something like $100 million for a bypass. You can’t avoid trucks.”
Resident Julie Taylor said it wasn’t a matter of if, but when, regarding a bad accident or death. “It’s going to be dangerous whatever you do. There are trucks, 4-wheel drives and caravans. You just have to make it less dangerous.
“Rutherglen is a far cry from the days of horses and buggies. Rutherglen is bigger and growing.”
She has experienced a near disaster, sitting outside a shop further up in Main Street. While sitting with a grandchild it was a frightening time when contact with a vehicle could easily have been made. “I’ve never sat there again,” Ms Taylor said. “I’ve seen adults with kids on leashes.
“There must be a huge campaign. There are lots of other things people should do but I must say some locals need educating.”
“I’d rather be arrested for protesting than going to a grandchild’s funeral” - Rutherglen resident Julie Taylor.
Ms Taylor emphasised: “I’d rather be arrested for protesting in the street than going to a grandchild’s funeral.”
Corowa resident Heather Leadbetter who spends a lot of time over this side of the border expressed concern at the width of the street. “I love the ambience of Rutherglen, but the width of the street is not good for cars, let alone trucks,” she said.
Enormous concern and fear exist in Rutherglen and beyond, about the town’s main street safety. No-one is disputing the need for all types of vehicles – including of course cars, caravans, trucks and farm machinery – to travel on roads.
It’s a matter now, with seemingly less money from state and federal governments for a growing Rutherglen, to at least improve safety in what is a narrow Main Street.
The truck accident on Main Street, Rutherglen on March 15, 2024.
Ms Lovell said the roads minister has committed to working with Indigo Shire to implement safety improvements on Main Street but said there needs to be more than talk and planning.
“We need action,” Ms Lovell said.
“The minister blames the commonwealth for withdrawing funding from the Rutherglen traffic study, but the state promised $2 million of its own for this project, and now refuses to answer questions about how that money will be used.”
“It’s time to act and spend the remaining $1.3 million on essential safety-traffic calming measures,” Mr Ellerbock added.
“One measure being a further extension of Main Street’s 40km speed limit to slow traffic.”
Minister Horne replied to Ms Lovell, saying the government “recognises the recent safety incidents” on Main Street in Rutherglen, and promises to “work with Indigo Shire on finding solutions to improve safety at this location”.
Ms Lovell said it was good news that the roads minister has committed to working with Indigo Shire to implement safety improvements on Main Street but said there needs to be more than just talk and planning.
“We need action,” Ms Lovell said.
“The minister blames the Commonwealth for withdrawing funding from the Rutherglen traffic study, but the State promised $2 million of its own for this project, and now refuses to answer questions about how that money will be used.
“I will continue advocating for action to be taken on Main Street until the government finally delivers the required safety improvements.”
Mr Ellerbock praised Councillor Roberta Horne and Wendy Lovell's leadership.
“Now is the time for the Victorian Minister for Roads and Road Safety to act,” he said.
“The minister must instruct Vic Roads and Indigo Council to urgently address this situation as it becomes more dire each day.”
Indigo Shire Mayor Sophie Price welcomed the government’s commitment to working with the council on improving Main Street's safety.
“We have been advocating to the Victorian government for a commitment that the remaining funds, put aside to address heavy vehicles using Main Street, be used to implement safety improvements,” Ms Price said.
Indigo Shire Council confirmed that they have yet to receive formal correspondence, details of the safety measure's entailment, or timelines from the Department of Transport.
