Brysons Rd Wonga Park resident Stephen Goldsworthy demands safety upgrades after his truck is written off in crash
A driver whose truck was written off after he swerved away from a likely head-on collision is demanding urgent safety upgrades to a rural back road stretching from Wonga Park to Warrandyte.
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A Brysons Rd man whose truck was written off in a late-night crash not far from his home fears someone will soon be killed if the road doesn’t get urgent safety upgrades.
Stephen Goldsworthy, of Wonga Park, said he had to swerve to the side of the road to avoid a potential head-on collision with another truck near Gatters Rd on Saturday night.
Mr Goldsworthy said he was driving towards Warrandyte South when another truck allegedly came speeding towards him on the opposite side of the road.
He said he had to drive off the road and into drainage, not far from a Federal Government Black Spot sign.
“Driving on that road at any point is terrifying, let alone when its dark and the conditions aren’t great,” Mr Goldsworthy said.
“It’s a federally funded black spot … but I haven’t seen anything change in the 12 years I’ve lived on that road.
“The only thing that has changed is the increased amount of traffic … the traffic has increased tenfold.”
Leader shared the concerns of Brysons Rd residents in May after Manningham Council diverted traffic from Jumping Creek Rd until August to complete upgrades.
Mr Goldsworthy said residents had spotted accidents “every two-to-three days” since the detour began including rollovers, cars hitting trees and steel barriers and head-on collisions.
“The rest of the community has complained for about 12 months but nothing has happened,” he said.
“There’s lots of communication through the community and it doesn’t appear that its on their (council’s) radar.”
Mr Goldsworthy plans to form an community action group and has called for footpaths, at least 16 hanging trees to be cut down, and for the speed limit to be reduced to 40 km/h from Wonga to Yarra roads.
“The road is a country lane that is just not built to take the volume of traffic that is now using it,” he said.
“It’s a horrific piece of road, and if it’s a federally funded black spot, where’s the money?”
Menzies federal Liberal MP Kevin Andrews said Manningham Council had been allocated $2.68 million in funding until June 2024 through the Government’s Roads To Recovery program.
He said he would be happy to meet with any action group that formed to hear their concerns.
Mr Andrews did not say how much the Federal Government had spent on improving the road in the past 12 years.
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Warrandyte state Liberal MP Ryan Smith said he felt trucks were not suitable for Brysons Rd and urged drivers to use the council’s other detour route on Yarra Rd instead.
“Brysons Rd is not great for anything of size, particularly traffic coming the other way,” he said.
Mr Smith also called for more monitoring of speeding drivers on the road and said he would discuss its issues with Manningham Council this week.
The council’s director of city services Rachelle Quattrocchi said it had received 32 complaints about the traffic speeds and safety along Brysons Rd since April.
She said it had installed additional road signs, reflective markers and warnings about the road’s 60km/h limit, and pruned vegetation to improve visibility.
Ms Quattrocchi said the council would continue to monitor the road’s condition and had been investigating options to address its issues.
“We are committed to supporting road safety on all local roads in Manningham and value feedback from community members,” she said.