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    WHAT IF? Noel Janetzki with a truck’s steel wheel stud that he found while mowing a nature strip in Baillie Street in Horsham. Mr Janetzki is keen to use his discovery as a simple example of why Horsham needs to find an alternative route for transport traffic through the city ‘sooner, rather than later’. Picture: DEAN LAWSON

Noel's bypass plea – ‘Get on with it’

The discovery of a truck wheel stud on a nature strip in Horsham’s Baillie Street has sparked a renewed ‘get on with it’ call to develop an alternative transport route through the rural city.

Life-time Horsham resident, volunteer and businessman Noel Janetzki said he immediately thought of the dangers of truck traffic in multi-use areas on discovery of the steel object.

“I was mowing a lawn near Lister House and accidentally ran over the stud, which had obviously come off a truck coming through,” he said.

“I don’t know anything about it or how it came off, but if it came off at speed it could have easily hit a pedestrian or shoppers, with fatal consequences.



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“We know that incidents involving machinery on open roads occur, particularly on highways, but this is an example of something happening inside a busy central business district.”

Mr Janetzki was keen to use his discovery as a simple example of why Horsham needed to find an alternative route for transport traffic through the city ‘sooner, rather than later’.

“It might not capture the thoughts of everyone, but when you see trucks, one after the other in a procession through Horsham’s shopping heart, it makes you stop and think – surely we can get some action happening on this,” he said.

“We’ve heard about plans involving Regional Roads Victoria working with the Horsham council on ways to make this happen, but it seems to have fallen right off the agenda, which is far from good enough.

“Whether it’s developing the talked-about alternative truck route or a much larger highway bypass, one has to happen or start happening sooner rather than later.”

Mr Janetzki was among a group of people that met with Horsham’s Cr Claudia Haenel to voice concerns.

He said on one occasion, while standing at May Park next to Baillie Street, which also doubles as the Western Highway, he lost count of the number of transports travelling into and from the centre of Horsham.

“It’s not only far from ideal, but also simply not safe for this to continue to happen,” he said.

“If there are legitimate processes in place to this flow-through of trucks out of Horsham, let’s get it happening.”

Regional Roads Victoria is exploring or has plans to explore options, which might include the construction of a second heavy-vehicle bridge across the Wimmera River, in collaboration with Horsham Rural City Council.

Developing an alternative route was part of an urban transport plan. 

The entire December 8, 2021 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!