Safety improvements have been made to a dangerous stretch of road that claimed the life of a Shepparton man and has been the scene of several other crashes this year.
The 4.9km section of Euroa-Mansfield Rd at Gooram has had the speed limit reduced from 100km/h to 60km/h following multiple crashes this year alone on that stretch of road, including the fatal one.
CFA, police and politicians have been calling for the speed to be reduced in the section between Ridge Rd and the Gooram Falls car park.
A 59-year-old Shepparton man died on July 9 after the ute he was a passenger in crashed down a 10m embankment on this stretch of road.
Gooram CFA captain Michael Stubbe said his brigade had been called to 10 crashes on the entire road in the past year, with six alone occurring on the small section that claimed the life of the Shepparton man.
It is that part of the road he is most concerned about, and he has long advocated for the speed limit to be dropped.
The road is windy and, in parts, drops away steeply from the road edge, meaning vehicles are either crashing into trees or going over the side of an embankment.
Mr Stubbe said most crashes had been in the first couple of corners as drivers descended the mountain from Ridge Rd from the Merton direction, heading towards Euroa.
All have been single-vehicle crashes.
All have involved vehicles that were northbound on the road.
And all have involved people who did not live in the area.
“You can’t do anywhere near 100km/h or you’ll go over the side,” Mr Stubbe said.
“This (lowering the speed limit) is the best we can do to control it.
“Hopefully, it’ll save a lot of lives and a lot of call-outs for volunteers.”
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell and State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland both called for a reduction in the speed limit in parliament in August after speaking with Mr Stubbe.
Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne agreed to the speed limit change in early August, but it took until the start of December for the speed limit change signs to be implemented.
In the meantime, the most recent crash in the problem spot occurred on November 7 when a ute crashed into a tree on the edge of an embankment.
A 52-year-old Shepparton man was airlifted to hospital in Melbourne in a critical but non-life-threatening condition, while a 49-year-old Broadford woman was also flown to a Melbourne hospital with a broken leg and other minor injuries.
Both Ms Lovell and Ms Cleeland were pleased the speed limit had finally been dropped, although Ms Lovell said she was disappointed it had taken so long for the new speed zone to be implemented after it was agreed on.
“It’s just a shame it took so long and further accidents occurred,” Ms Lovell said.
“Even after they were alerted to how dangerous it was, it took so long to put up the signs.
“It was three and a half months before it happened.
“We’re talking about people’s lives, and the government has got to take our roads seriously.
“At the moment in country Victoria they’re just so dangerous.”
Ms Cleeland said the speed limit changes would go a long way towards increasing the safety of motorists, as well as protecting CFA volunteers, who had been the first responders to several recent accidents.
“Our regional roads are already in an appalling state, and having unnecessarily dangerous speed limits was just making the situation worse,” Ms Cleeland said.
“This is a step in the right direction to ensuring our community can travel safely along these roads.”
An 18-year-old Shepparton student died in a crash further along the road, closer to Euroa, on November 3, but that section of road is not part of the area that has had the speed limit changed.