Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Jarosite–Bells Beach roads

Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (19:09): (85) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action I seek is for immediate allocation of funding for about an 800-metre strip of road where Jarosite Road and Bells Beach Road intersect. There are two car parks well known to the surfing community along the Surf Coast: the Bells Beach car park and the Southside car park. This stretch of road is a narrow, winding, very steep, up-and-down stretch of road that is actually a crucial link in a nearly 42-kilometre patch of bike-riding trails and walking trails that are used not only by the local Torquay/Jan Juc community but further afield down to Anglesea and of course by the many thousands and thousands of visitors and outdoor activists that come down and enjoy the wonderful sights and sounds and surrounds of the Torquay–Bells Beach area.

What happened was last week I had an opportunity to meet with young Aaron Tremul, the Surf Coast Mountain Bike Club and local councillor Mike Bodsworth. We met on the site where young Aaron was almost killed late last year, because what happens is the bike riders have to leave the safe, beautiful, picturesque trail, the Surf Coast cycling trail, and they have to enter onto this steep bit of track along near Bells Beach, and they have to do that for about 800 metres and then rejoin the track. It is a simple solution. The road needs to be widened. The road needs to have clear markings for cyclists to go on.

Just in the short time I was with the latest victim of an accident there, young Aaron, and the mountain bike club there were many, many cyclists doing the journey from the bike track out onto the roadway, along the road and back again. It is a clear danger. Mike Bodsworth, the local councillor, tells me that up to 100,000 cyclists use the ocean road trail on a yearly basis. That is a lot of people. It is in an area where people are keen to enjoy the great outdoors. It is an area where people are often easily distracted with the beautiful views and the sunshine, so it is not safe to have bikes and cars without somewhere clear and defined to go. The community have also said to me, ‘Look, we know that we can’t necessarily get that sign straightaway, but we can get the speed limit lowered so it’s down to a safe speed in that 800-metre track. We can also get some signage that’s much needed to advise tourists.’ One of the realities of that space is that there may be many regulars that are aware that there are going to be cyclists but many visitors as well. We need some signage to ward off cyclists, some signage to get the speed down and to make the area safe for everybody.