CHATSWORTH residents are fed up with the state of their roads and fear there will be a fatality.
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More than 80 people have signed a petition asking Moyne Shire Council to reduce the speed limit on the Caramut-Chatsworth Road before it's too late.
The town, north-west of Mortlake, has a child care centre operating on the road, which has become a popular short cut for people travelling between Hamilton and Ballarat in recent years.
Resident Pat Bourchier said the safety of children and parents who used the child care centre was at risk.
"The entrance to the centre is at the base of a crest and many of those parents or responsible persons are forced to cross traffic whilst negotiating oncoming vehicles travelling at the current 100km/h speed limit," he said.
Mr Bourchier and a number of other concerned residents want the speed limit reduced to 40km/h during the child care's operating hours and drop-off and pick-up times.
Residents have also asked the council to consider reducing the speed limit on other town roads, which contain blind spots, crests, high shoulders and steep descents.
"In the past two years there have been several accidents at the Chadsworth bridge involving cars and trucks," Mr Bourchier said.
Traffic has also increased since the saleyards opened in Mortlake and recently town residents say they were "terrorised" by dozens of trucks.
Mr Bourchier said that in the space of three weeks there were 3000 trucks using their local roads - up to 200 on any given day.
He said the trucks were believed to be using the roads to access a number of projects in the region, but the roads had not been built to cope with such a high volume of traffic.
"There were a lot of people who had near misses with them," Mr Bourchier said.
"Some of the trucks wouldn't slow down and people had to pull right off onto the shoulder of the road."
Mr Bourchier and other town residents say most of the trucks now appear to be using other routes, restoring some peace to Chatsworth, but he said the roads had been "destroyed".
"Trucks have been trashing our roads and now our rates will have to pay to repair them," he said.
A Moyne Shire Council spokesman said the council was made aware of additional trucks using the town's roads.
"Council then worked closely with VicRoads and the contractor to alter the truck route so they now travel onto the arterial road network," he said.
"Council is also working with the contractor and VicRoads and is negotiating suitable repairs to be made to the road."
He said the council had received the petition regarding the speed limit, which would be tabled at the next meeting and debated at the following one.
"However, change in speed is ultimately the decision of VicRoads, not council," the spokesman said.
There had been a suggestion the trucks may have been accessing the Dundonnell wind farm, but a Tilt Renewables spokesman said this was not the case.
He said any trucks on route to or from the wind farm used an alternative route.