CAST your eyes over the low kerb at the bottom of Deakin Avenue, opposite the fountain, and you will notice the skid marks made by trucks turning right into Seventh Street.
I always thought it was hard for normal trucks to turn at the intersection, but now with three – and sometimes more – wagons, I think successfully manoeuvring through there is no less than a miracle.In the vicinity of 1300 trucks daily transit through Deakin Avenue from both directions.
They are generally well-driven and well-behaved, except for rogue, unmarked trucks squealing to a halt at various intersections, ignoring long-standing requests not to use compression brakes in urban areas.
Even so, you cannot enjoy a coffee or a drink in peace on Deakin Ave – not just at the cafe bearing my name, but everyone else as well – Brother Chris, Black Milk, The Grand on Deakin, etc. Add the banks, the motels and various shops and schools along Deakin Avenue and the traffic and the noise they are exposed to is simply unbearable.
I do not blame the truck companies because they must chose the quickest route available to deliver their goods in a timely fashion, and we all know the pressure of a modern, fast economy. Problem is that the volume of traffic is constantly on the increase and responding adequately to this pressure is also becoming more complex.
Most people do not know that not only Deakin Ave is the responsibility of the State Government, but also Seventh Street from Deakin Ave to the bridge, which reverts to NSW. The bridge is also becoming too small, dangerous and makes a perfect bottleneck, especially in the morning.
And if you also think the bridge is inadequate, spare a thought for Renmark/Paringa. So there are state and federal responsibilities involved in these matters. Councils have little say.
Mildura Council has made many representations to all concerned, state and federal governments and trucking companies, to get to a plan to resolve this manifestly grave issue.
Benetook Ave could be a temporary answer, though it would need a large injection of funds to make it attractive to trucks. Those should come from state and federal authorities, but are not a swinging seat, are we? We are stuck with the same, and the same gives you . the same.
The bridge is part of the problem and to be resolved, that would require a strong input of political will by the NSW government.
At the moment, the best option would be to bring all trucking companies together with various councils to lobby everyone for an alternative bridge and an alternative to Deakin Ave.
Mildura Council, representing a major Australian food bowl, can, I imagine, develop a proposal for discussion and consultation and then we will see who comes to the goodwill table.
If trucking companies do not come to the party, I’d be surprised as the cost to them of the current arrangements is explosive: I am told, reliably, that a truck adds about 70 minutes to the journey through Mildura from the airport to Trentham and vice versa. That is a big number only to get bigger in the future. Think of the drivers’ tiredness, the pollution, and the wear and tear on road and trucks.
Even supposing everyone comes to the table with a fair degree of enthusiasm – and you need lots of that in a non-swinging seat – these structural enterprises take years to be planned, approved, funded and implemented. Those with memories will recall the time it took for the Robinvale bridge to be replaced by a modern one – and that was on an existing site with a fair pre-existing knowledge of the riverine terrain.
However, a long journey begins with one, first step.
My hope is that community, transport industry and authorities undertake that first step sooner rather than later. I know it is unlikely anything will happen in my lifetime, but it would be nice to see some developments not too far into the future.
