Three inner-west intersections have been named on a list of the region’s most dangerous junctions.
The Western Freeway on/off ramps at Hopkins Road in Deanside won the unenviable title as part of RACV’s ‘My Melbourne Road’ campaign in which more than 12,000 road users voted on the most dangerous intersections across Melbourne.
RACV worked alongside the National Transport Research Organisation to evaluate 364 metropolitan intersections and – based on crash data, traffic volumes and intersection design – identified 84 of the very worst intersections for Victorians to vote on.
But also making the list was Geelong Road and Somerville Road, West Footscray, which was named as the west’s third most dangerous intersection, behind Sunshine’s Ballarat and McIntyre roads intersection.
Millers Road and Cabot Drive in Altona North and Chambers Road and McArthurs Road, also in Altona North, also made the list.
RACV head of policy James Williams said the insurance company will use this data to continue advocating to governments for improvements to high-risk intersections.
“We know that around 40 per cent of crashes in Melbourne occur at intersections, and if we are going to reach our Towards Zero target of halving road deaths by 2030, government needs to invest in fixing these intersections,” Mr Williams said.
“With limited funding available for new or upgraded infrastructure, RACV has provided an evidence-based approach for governments to make targeted investment decisions across a range of budgets.”
RACV cited the Deanside intersection as the most dangerous due to its existing infrastructure not keeping pace with significant growth in the area, resulting in exiting traffic banking up onto the freeway during peak periods.
At the intersection, vehicles turning right off the freeway need to cross over traffic turning right onto the freeway, also adding risk.
RACV said a lack of traffic signals, mismatches of speeds across the overpass, poor line markings and lanes merging suddenly add the the intersection’s danger.
Long-term solutions to the problems at the intersection include a potential redesign of the northern intersection which would involve removing the on/off loop and reducing right-hand turns at Hopkins Road, according to RACV.
