Success for Kennett River traffic safety program

Published on 10 February 2025

Changes to parking and traffic movements have had a noticeable improvement in safety and congestion at Kennett River.

Council implemented temporary measures in the Kennett River township late last year, in response to community concerns about traffic safety and parking during peak times, and an increase in visitor traffic.

Changes include formalising angled car spaces, removing right-hand turn movements from Hawdon Avenue into the river access road, and installing bollards and line markings to prevent parking in inappropriate areas.

Council worked with the Kennett Community Action Group and the Kennett River Association to develop temporary measures to improve traffic safety, encourage legal parking and protect pedestrians.

Council’s General Manager Infrastructure and Environment Doug McNeill said Council was pleased to work in collaboration with the local community to improve safety.

“The changes are having a positive effect - cars are not parking on the roundabout, parking on the service road is more orderly, and it is generally a lot safer,” Mr McNeill said.

“This is great news given the significant effort Council engineering staff put into developing options for the precinct and seeking solutions in partnership with the community,” he said.

“We’re happy that the community is reporting improvements this summer, and we’ll continue to monitor the situation going forward.”

Kennett Community Action Group co-founder Jules Lin said having designated parks, clearer line markings and strategically placed bollards had discouraged motorists from parking in high-risk areas.

“The changes have proven themselves with a palpable calming effect, through logical orderliness,” Mrs Lin said.

“There is a noticeable improvement in visitor behaviour because now visitors know what to do, where they can and can’t park. If people can’t find a park, they move on.”

Mrs Lin said the changes showed Council was serious about community safety.

“It was Council money well spent, investing in community safety. The Shire has listened, collaborated and delivered,” she said.

These changes will be in place for 12 to 18 months until the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority implements more permanent traffic management changes under the State and Federal Governments’ Geelong City Deals program.

Mrs Lin said learnings from the interim traffic management plan will be taken to GORCAPA for their consideration.

Kennett River Association President Corrinna Dichiera also welcomed the traffic changes.

“The Kennett River Association (KRA) welcomed Council’s proactive approach, and the temporary measures implemented by the Shire appeared to assist with traffic flow and parking over summer”, Ms Dichiera said.

“However, enforcement is still a key aspect of creating behaviour change and improving safety, especially among tour bus operators, and this aspect of Council’s role continues to be important in our community.

“Safety and traffic flow would be further enhanced by additional measures such as timed parking bays, to ensure that day visitors have better access to this area, which is heavily utilised by caravan park patrons over January.

“We look forward to working with Council to achieve these additional changes in the future”, Ms. Dichiera said.