YARRIAMBIACK Shire Council addressed concerns regarding safe access to the Rosebery and Sheep Hills Silo Art sites at its April meeting on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The council’s acting chief executive James Magee said residents had raised concerns for safety at the popular sites.
“A couple of people have have approached me with safety concerns at the Rosebery and Sheep Hills silos,” he said.
“Although there is extremely good access and parking at the Rosebery site, the highway speed limit is 100kmh. There’s also a rise on the northern side which makes it difficult to see what’s over the hill.”
Another concern were the two access roads to the Sheep Hills Silo Art site, which both have Y-intersections with the Stawell-Warracknabeal Road.
“While neither of the sites can be described as black spots, there is an opportunity for safety improvements, so liaison and lobbying of VicRoads is required,” he said.
The popularity of the Silo Art Trail has continued to increase Yarriambiack Shire’s tourism numbers. A report in November showed that visitor numbers to the Wimmera-Southern Mallee had increased by about 400 per cent since 2015.
Related:
Cr Shane Roberts said it was important to make changes at the sites to ensure the safety of visitors.
“There needs to be a lower limit at Rosebery or some kind of turning lane to make it safe,” he said.
Cr Kylie Zanker moved a motion, seconded by Cr Helen Ballentine, that the council write to VicRoads with the request to review the speed limit at the Rosebery site with the view to lower it.
Cr Roberts suggested the council could allocate a portion of their own money to make the access roads to the Sheep Hills site safer.
“If we contribute something we could get it done sooner and show VicRoads that we’re serious about the issue,” he said.
Mayor Graeme Massey said there could be a possibility to find money for the works in the next year.
Information signs at all Silo Art Trail sites are due to be placed next month.