Shire of Dardanup to take cautious approach to request to lower speed limit on section of Forrest Highway

The Shire of Dardanup will take a more cautious approach to a request to lower highway speed limits after concerns from councillors. At January’s annual electors’ meeting, a member of the public pushed to have the council lobby Main Roads and Collie-Preston MLA Jodie Hanns to reduce the speed limit of Forrest Highway between Old Coast Road and Eaton Drive to 70km/h citing noise issues. But councillors voted unanimously at last month’s council meeting to instead lobby for an investigation into speed limits in the area once the Bunbury Outer Ring Road is opened. Cr Tony Jenour moved the change, stating he wanted to understand what impact a potential speed drop would have not only on the Eaton community, but those travelling through the area. Cr Jenour said he did not want the member of the public who proposed the reduced speed limit to see it “as a blight on their effort”, but that the council was taking a more “staggered approach”. Speaking after the meeting, shire president Tyrrell Gardiner said the council had improved the annual electors’ meeting decision with the benefit of a bit more time. “We will wait and see what happens with the BORR,” he said. “There is no point going out and doing stuff now and things change.” The council also voted to lobby Main Roads and Ms Hanns to consider using materials which reduce traffic noise to resurface the stretch of road and request the road reserve and median strip be improved and maintained to a high standard.