Portarlington road so rough ‘drivers crash’

Kim Waters
A PORTARLINGTON road is so rough it makes drivers crash, according to police and residents.
They have demanded urgent repairs to Beach Parade after attributing a series of car accidents to the road’s crumbling surface and numerous potholes.
Portarlington Police Sergeant Dave O’Conner labelled Beach Parade “dangerous”.
“The road is covered in potholes and it needs to be resealed from the pier along the park area,” Sgt O’Conner said.
“It’s had potholes for years and (Bellarine Bayside Foreshore Committee of Management) throws a few stones in the potholes as a quick repair but it hasn’t helped.”
Sgt O’Conner said that the popular road was particularly dangerous late at night when hoons tried to show off while negotiating the rough surface.
“We’ve intercepted quite a few hoon drivers really late at night. It’s a pretty bad road and it’s dangerous.”
Resident Pamela Edwards said local motorists treated the potholes and a bump from a drain running under Beach Parade as “speed bumps”.
“It’s so dangerous because hitting that drain at a medium speed would send a car flying and tourists just aren’t aware of it,” Ms Edwards said.
“The potholes are so bad you can easily lose control of your car if you don’t see them, especially at night.
“There has been accidents there in the past and something needs to be done about it.”
Ms Edwards urged Bellarine Bayside to fix the road or risk “endangering” lives.
“Looking at the condition of Beach Parade – it’s clearly not a safe place to take a family,” she said.
“Portarlington relies so much on tourism and people won’t come to visit if we can’t even get safe roads for them to drive on down to the bay.
“The road is so bad you drive on it at your own peril – it’s hopeless.”
Portarlington Community Association spokesperson Stephen Wilkinson said the committee had started work on a walking path alongside Beach Parade from Point Richards to Sproat Street.
“In the past pedestrians and cyclists had to share the road with cars, so this is much safer and a welcome addition to the foreshore,” he said.
Bellarine Bayside Foreshore Committee of Management did not return the Independent’s calls for comment before the paper went to press.