Highway danger- Members of the Tooradin Commerce Committee campaigning for a lower speed limit

By Bridget Brady
TOORADIN traders have re-ignited their pleas for the speed limit to be lowered along the shopping strip before a tragedy occurs.
They say pedestrians are at risk as trucks fly past the South Gippsland Highway, and believe the 80km/h speed limit is too excessive for the village-like shopping atmosphere in the town.
Tooradin Commerce Committee treasurer and local bank manger Darryl Sutcliffe said he cringed when he heard trucks roar along the South Gippsland Highway.
“Someone is going to get knocked over,” he said.
“It’s up to us to lobby for it. We’re not going to give up because it’s important to us. We don’t want to see a tragedy,” he said.
Committee president Colin Butler said traders had called for the speed limit to be lowered to at least 70km/h for years, but their appeals had always fallen on deaf ears.
Commerce committee membership officer and Tooradin News owner, Dianne Loft, said she would like to see the speed limit lowered to 50km/h.
She said many trucks used the South Gippsland Highway and it was a popular road for tourists heading towards South Gippsland.
“The volume of the traffic doesn’t sit well with a shopping town,” Ms Loft said.
“Just because the speed limit is 80km/h it doesn’t mean people do 80km/h. Big trucks don’t slow down.”
Tooradin Commerce Committee secretary Marlene Hargreaves said people ran back and forth across the highway, especially during the peak tourism times.
“We see near mises all the time. And the reality is the (traffic) lights are not helping address the issue,” Ms Hargreaves said.
She said the 80km/h zone was too fast, especially when cars and trucks needed to slow down when motorists turned into the service lanes.
VicRoads did not comment before the News went to print.