Fears someone will be ‘killed’ at ‘notorious’ Howard St and Midland Hwy Bendigo intersection

A notorious intersection in the Premier’s electorate — that’s already put three children in hospital — needs to be fixed before someone is killed, a local community group says.

Kelly Durie at the intersection of Howard St and Midland Highway, Epsom which was voted the most dangerous intersection in rural Victoria. Picture: Rob Leeson.

A notorious intersection that’s already put three children in hospital needs to be fixed before someone is killed, a local community group says as it calls for the Premier to help in her own electorate.

The intersection of Howard St and the Midland Hwy, Epsom — on the outskirts of Bendigo — was voted among the worst in country Victoria in a recent RACV survey.

Notorious for car crashes and near misses, three primary school aged children have been hit in two separate horrific crashes in the past few years.

Epsom Road Safety Group co-ordinator Kelly Durie is calling for new turning lanes to be installed, alongside red light cameras to address dangerous traffic.

The intersection of Howard St and the Midland Hwy, Epsom is notorious for car crashes and near misses.

Just a few hundred metres away from Epsom Primary School, school students and parents dodge heavy load trucks that struggle to turn through the intersection.

Ms Durie said she witnessed a double-B truck wipe out traffic lights on the designated state freight route while she was waiting to cross with her daughter.

She said she had also seen cars tear through the crossing, almost hitting pedestrians.

Kelly Durie has been lobbying the state government to address the safety issues at the intersection of Howard St and Midland Hwy, Epsom for two years, but the government is yet to make any commitments. Picture: Rob Leeson.

“It’s going to take someone to be killed for the state government to take it seriously and actually spend some money on it,” she said.

Ms Durie said more and more development had been approved around the intersection — causing the traffic to get worse — but the state government was yet to splash any cash on infrastructure upgrades to address the issue.

“They’re allowing thousands of people to move in without putting any infrastructure in place,” she said.

Ms Durie said the Epsom Road Safety Group, alongside Epsom Primary School, had been in many talks with Premier Jacinta Allan, who is also the local member, but no commitments had been made.

Ms Durie said there was “argy-bargy” between VicRoads and Bendigo council about who was responsible for any upgrades.

Property developer National Retail Group is privately widening the eastern side of the intersection at Epsom Village, to meet a planning permit requirement.

However, Ms Durie said the western side also needed work.

Bendigo council assets director Brian Westley said the intersection was one of the highest priorities for the council, but the state government was “responsible for funding and delivery”.

A state government spokeswoman confirmed it had spent $600,000 to plan for improvements at the intersection but that experts were “working to identify the best way to deliver this upgrade to make it safer for school students and the community”.

Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell asked Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne in Parliament to give a timeline for when funding would be allocated and when works would commence.

Ms Horne replied that safety upgrades would be "evaluated alongside the needs of other projects in the state and will be considered for inclusion in future programs". 

Ms Lovell said the response "confirmed" the government had "failed to commit to upgrading the Midland Highway intersection".

“Epsom locals will take no comfort from Minister Horne’s words – she won’t commit to funding this project, and has warned that the Midland Highway intersection upgrade will have to compete for funds with other projects in the state," she said.

“Premier Allan should be embarrassed that the most dangerous intersection in Victoria is in her own electorate, and she’s done nothing about it.”