By Casey Neill
A “traffic calming device” nearly caused a head-on collision in a Noble Park North street, says one local.
But Greater Dandenong Council said the Titcher Road treatments had reduced rat-running and cut driver speeds.
Kim Cotter’s parents have lived in the road since the early 1960s.
“It doesn’t slow anyone down because it’s that wide you don’t have to turn your wheels to get through it,” she said.
“I’ve nearly had a head-on collision at night in it.”
Ms Cotter said the installation – essentially an extension of the nature strip – narrowed the road.
“It’s effectively one lane down the centre,” she said.
“If you’re in the middle of it and someone flies in you don’t have much room to move.”
She said there’d been a push for speed humps for years.
“For years residents have been told there’s nothing to warrant speed humps or traffic calming measures in Titcher Road,” she said.
“Now all of a sudden there is.
“They just sort of make it up as they go along.”
She said the council told her parents that all residents were informed, but her parents received no notification.
“None of the neighbours I spoke to had received any communication either,” she said.
“I want them to pull it out.”
Greater Dandenong councillor Matthew Kirwan told the Monday 28 August council meeting that residents had said the traffic calming devices were “ineffective and at night are actually dangerous due to them being hard to see”.
City planning, design and amenity director Jody Bosman said data showed a decrease in traffic speeds and volumes passing through the section of Titcher Road that contained the treatment.
He said the difference in the morning and afternoon peak periods was noticeable, “indicating that the amount of rat-running through Titcher Road has likely decreased”.
“Most accidents that have occurred on Titcher Road in the years prior to the treatment being installed had occurred during these periods,” he said.
“The traffic speeds further west on Titcher Road are still relatively high, particularly heading downhill towards Elonera Road.
“Officers will continue to monitor this location.”
Mr Bosman said the council had not identified “any significant safety issues caused by the treatments” and that lighting and white paint had been used to make them stand out.
