Source : the age
A new tactic is being deployed to tackle the seemingly unstoppable number of trucks, vans and buses smashing into Melbourne’s most notorious bridge.
The state government said on Wednesday that it hoped slowing vehicles down as they approach Montague Street bridge in South Melbourne would allow drivers more time to realise their large vehicles won’t fit underneath.
A truck stuck under the Montague Street bridge in 2017. Credit: Jason South
The speed limit will be cut from 60km/h to 40km/h later this month between Munro Street and Buckhurst Street, about 170 metres either side of the bridge.
Roads Minister Melissa Horne said the lower speed would mean drivers would have more time to consider their vehicle’s height and more time to hit the brakes.
“Drivers should always check the height of their vehicle before travelling and obey road safety and warning signage,” Horne said.
The move is the latest effort to solve the long-standing problem of trucks and buses hitting the unusually low bridge, which carries trams on the busy route 109 between the city and Port Melbourne.
The bridge’s clearance is just three metres, which is well below the standard minimum clearance of 5.4 metres and low enough to take the top off many commercial vehicles.
Two gantries were installed in 2016 hanging over Montague Street to alert high vehicles they are too tall. And as of 2022, VicRoads had installed a total of 26 signs to warn drivers of the low clearance.
But imperceptive and obstinate drivers still regularly end up wedged underneath, causing traffic chaos and occasional injuries.
A website set up to monitor such incidents shows 11 crashes since the start of 2024, with the most recent being just two weeks ago.
A Commonwealth Games bus hit the bridge in 2006.Credit: Nicole Bourman
Traffic engineer Rob Morgan conducted a safety review of the bridge in 2016 and predicted lowering the speed limit would be “completely ineffective” at stopping crashes.
“You’re going to go slower and so the noise of [hitting the gantry] chains will be a bit less. It’s not an issue of speed, it’s an issue of understanding your vehicle is a bit higher than three metres,” he said.
Morgan suggested a more effective solution would be to install height detectors and traffic signals on the bridge to stop over-height vehicles with a red light.
VicRoads considered increasing the bridge’s clearance by lowering the road in 2016 after 11 people were hospitalised when the coach they were travelling in crashed into it.
But the road authority deemed there were insurmountable engineering challenges, with underground tidal flows likely to cause regular flooding if the road were lowered.
Gas, water and electricity infrastructure would also need to be relocated, and surrounding streets would have to be redesigned. Raising the bridge was considered even less viable because of the complication of moving tram tracks, which connect to a nearby depot.
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