Goya Dmytryshchak
More truck curfews and a 30km/h speed limit in local streets have been flagged under the Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan 2021-2030 endorsed by Maribyrnong council.
Councillors voted to endorse the plan with amendments to improve road safety for vulnerable road users.
One amendment is for the council to advocate for increased truck curfews in Somerville Road during school times, in addition to current morning and afternoon curfews.
Another amendment is that after the rollout of its current 40km/h on local streets program, to investigate reducing the speed limit to 30km/h as practicable and consider protected bike lanes on streets where the speed limit remains more than 30km/h.
A report to the council stated that more than 630 feedback submissions were considered in developing the plan, with trucks regarded as the No. 1 issue.
“Trucks and their associated risks to other users on our roads was considered the top priority issue by over half of the respondents,” the report stated.
Actions to be carried out under the plan include a review of the freight network, further curfews for trucks, improved curfew-monitoring technology and reducing the volume of trucks on the municipality’s roads.
The plan states that nearly 70 per cent of respondents believed speed limits on local residential roads were “about right”.
“Of the remainder, the majority felt the speed limits were too high,” the plan states.
“Of those who felt that speed limits were too high, many wanted to see more widespread use of 40km/h zones and some suggested lower speed limits of 30km/h.
“There was a fairly even split between those wanting more 50km/h limits on major roads and those wanting the speed limit to be 60km/h.”
