Pain barrier

By Jade Lawton
THE survivor of last month’s horror smash on the Monash Freeway has welcomed an announcement of median barriers from Berwick to Pakenham.
Pakenham resident Rebecca Bishop, 27, was trapped in her Holden station wagon for two hours after a loaded semi-trailer jack-knifed, sweeping her car underneath the truck on Saturday, 20 February.
A veteran CFA officer described the rescue as the most difficult he had encountered in 30 years.
Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas was just metres away from the crash site, on the Soldiers Road overpass in Berwick, when he announced the wire and rope barrier project on Friday.
“We are putting $1.5 million into this area, with run-off rails and the removal of trees where they constitute a safety risk,” he said.
“This is a great initiative and the local members have been strong in advocating for this area.”
Ms Bishop is still being treated in the TAC rehabilitation centre.
“I personally didn’t even notice that they (the barriers) weren’t there, but after the accident my husband said he thought it was the only area on the freeway that didn’t have them,” she told the Gazette on Monday.
Ms Bishop is being tested for nerve damage to her fingers but said she was walking by herself and hoped to be home by the end of March.
“I’m progressing well physically, but emotionally it’s harder. But it certainly could have gone another way. I see people here with brain damage, or paraplegics and I feel lucky,” she said.
At the announcement on Friday, Narre Warren South MP Judith Graley said it was fantastic to have the minister announce funding in the area.
“Road safety and roads are a big issue and every time the minister comes to my electorate he brings a big cheque – so thankyou minister,” she said.
Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato said the funding came after consultation with Mr Pallas.
“We’ve raised this (issue) on a number of occasions and I would like to express my delight the minister has acknowledged road safety issues locally and is making sure they are addressed.”
Two fatalities and 19 casualty crashes have been recorded on this part of the freeway in the five-year period from 1 July 2004 to 31 December 2009.
Pakenham resident Jamie Scuglia, who was one of the many motorists stuck in traffic for hours after Ms Bishop’s ordeal, questioned why the barriers were not installed earlier.
“I think this road opened in 1984,” he said. “People may still be alive today had that wire safety rope been installed in the past.”