Chiltern quadruple fatality sparks three-pronged probe into speed limits

A probe into the intersection of Wenkes Road and the Hume Freeway near Chiltern was launched after the tragedy on August 31.

The review followed revelations that there were 10 crashes in 10 years at the site, including the fatal incident in August.

"Wenkes Road is being reviewed for a potential speed limit reduction, in conjunction with Indigo Shire Council," said Emma Bamford, acting Hume regional director, Department of Transport and Planning.

A statement from the department said: "An inspection was undertaken by the department, Victoria Police and Indigo Shire Council in the days following a fatal collision on Wenkes Road, Chiltern, in August.

"During this inspection, multiple options to improve safety along Wenkes Road were discussed, including the possibility of closing the road's access to the Hume Freeway, however this is not being considered at this time and will remain open."

Indigo Shire Council chief executive Trevor Ierino said several options were still being discussed.

"They're looking at things like speed limits on the Wenkes Road side ... (and) working with the providers of satellite navigation software so that they divert traffic back via a better way to get to freeway on-ramps," Mr Ierino said.

Mr Ierino had just returned from talks with Regional Roads Victoria.

"Regional Roads Victoria have ... conducted a review of that intersection that involves a multi-agency approach," he said.

"They're looking at different options there and developing a report on what they might do there to improve that intersection.

"We're waiting for the report on what they propose to do to improve that intersection."

Peter Wellington, who has owned 5.5 hectares of land on Back Springhurst Road for 25 years, said it would be "ridiculous" to cut the speed limit on the stretch of Hume Freeway where it connects with Wenkes Road to 80kmh.

"My wife's been here all her life, she was brought up on a farm about 900 metres down the road from here, I'm from Wang, but I've been in this area for about 40 years," he said.

"In that time, that intersection has never, ever been a problem," he said. "Since that accident, by the sound of it, everyone's making a big kerfuffle about it.

"Hundreds of thousands of people over all those years I've been here have gotten in and out of there with no problem.

"If they reduced the speed to 80kmh, that would shit me right off, you do that, then it's no longer a freeway. I think it's fine the way it is, the visibility both ways is excellent."

Chiltern Valley Road resident Jo Tait echoed Mr Wellington's sentiments.

"Reducing the speed limit at that intersection is overkill, it drops to an 80kmh zone near the town because there's a lot of semis turning there, so that makes sense, but not here," she said.

"I think it's very well signed, the visibility is very clear, it's used enough to not shut it down, and with the amount of traffic coming down the Hume, to drop the limit to 80kmh would be a mistake."

Mr Wellington and Ms Tait said they had not been contacted by the council or the department over any proposed changes.

Indigo Shire mayor Sophie Price, who lives in Chiltern, said she would support measures to lower the chances of more fatalities at the intersection.

"We certainly never want to see anything like that ever repeated again," she said. "Whatever measures they can put in place to try to guarantee that, we would support.

"The best thing that can happen for the community is that it's a really consultative process and they can feed in, and so that Regional Roads Victoria can exactly identify how many people that would impact."

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