Petition puts koala death trap in front of transport department

A Pound Creek mother wants the speed limit cut on the Inverloch-Venus Bay Road after finding two dead koalas 300 metres apart on the same night.

April Harrick has driven the road for 16 years and pulled over countless times to check the pouches of animals killed by passing traffic.

Within a fortnight of finding the two males, a third koala was found dead on the same stretch.

"That was what really sparked it," she said.

"It wasn't just the one odd one, it was two in the same night."

Finding the pair pushed her to start a petition, which closed with 229 supporters after five days, 196 of them in Australia.

The Australian signatures are overwhelmingly local, with the largest blocks coming from Inverloch, Venus Bay, Tarwin Lower and Wonthaggi.

Ms Harrick has since asked the Department of Transport and Planning to drop the limit from 100km/h to 80km/h along 3.6km between Pound Creek Road and Koonwarra-Pound Creek Road.

"You've got lots of eucalypts on the side of the road, quite blind bends, concealed driveways, and it's 100 kilometres an hour," she said.

"During the day it's not an issue, but at night time when animals are crossing we see a fairly significant amount of wildlife that does get hit there.”

Ms Harrick estimates she has seen more than 50 dead koalas on the road over 16 years, with the numbers rising sharply during breeding season when males travel in search of a mate.

A wildlife carer from Tarwin contacted her after the petition launched to say another koala had since been struck there, a female whose joey died on impact.

Ms Harrick said she already drove at the lowered speed limit she was asking for.

"I always drive at 80 kilometres an hour or under at night time," she said.

"That's just my blanket rule and it always allows me, even around a corner, to slow down in time.”

Ms Harrick said she understood some drivers would be unhappy with a lower limit, but expected they would adjust quickly once it was in place.

"Once a speed reduction is put in place people just put up with it and then they don't think twice about it," she said.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry into wildlife roadstrike handed down 32 findings and 18 recommendations in November last year, among them that slower speeds reduce the severity of a collision and that the government examine variable speed limits in high-risk areas.

The Inverloch-Venus Bay Road is state managed, which puts the decision with the Department of Transport and Planning rather than the council.

Ms Harrick said the department's first response discussed signage, which she had not raised, but invited her to submit the petition and her supporting evidence.

South Gippsland Shire Council told her it was routinely consulted on speed limit changes and would take the petition and the community response seriously.

Ms Harrick also contacted State Nationals leader Danny O'Brien.

"I would be more than happy to advocate on April's behalf to seek a response to her petition," Mr O'Brien told the Sentinel-Times.

Ms Harrick said the road had grown busier as the population moved into the area and tourist traffic tracked through to Wilsons Promontory.

The Department of Transport and Planning and South Gippsland Shire Council were contacted for comment.