‘Lights won’t help us’

By Bridget Brady
CLYDE residents say overhead lights to be installed at an intersection will do little to improve its safety.
Fifteen lights costing $625,000 will be built at the intersection of the South Gippsland Highway and Clyde Five Ways Road in an attempt to reduce the number of accidents at the dangerous intersection.
But long-time Clyde resident John Goodrich, who has lived near the intersection for almost 40 years, said accidents were most common during the day.
“It’s not going to make a lot of difference. The traffic is heavier during the day and the volume of accidents has always been high then,” Mr Goodrich said
“Accidents will happen because of the set up of the intersection. While the road stays like that there will always be accidents.”
Another Clyde resident Richard Howie said anything that improved the “horrible, messy” intersection was welcome.
“But the problem is not just isolated to night-time. Unfortunately I think it’s not going to be the magic bullet for it,” Mr Howie said.
“The intersection either needs a roundabout or lights and I think in an ideal world changing the alignment of Clyde-Five Ways Road would be the long term solution.”
Mr Goodrich said most of the accidents happened when people tried to turn right into Finsbury Road from the South Gippsland Highway, and Mr Howie said accidents also occurred when turning right onto the highway from Clyde-Five Ways Road.
Eastern Victorian Region MP Johan Scheffer said works on the project started on 24 February.
“Fifteeen overhead lights will be installed to improve visibility at the intersection and reduce the risk of crashes,” Mr Scheffer said.