Residents are claiming a victory for common sense following the lowering of the speed limit on a dangerous road at Ocean View.

Last June The Westerner reported residents were fearful of a major accident as drivers sped down the narrow and windy Ocean View Road.

It followed residents’ concerns about wildlife, including wallabies, being killed by speeding vehicles on the road, on which several new housing estates and a horse riding centre are situated.

Residents say drivers used Ocean View Road, which had an open speed limit, as an alternative to Mt Mee Road, the area’s main traffic route and designated as a 60km/hour zone.

Following residents’ submission to Moreton Bay Regional Council, which was backed by Dayboro Police, all travel on all of Ocean View Road is now limited to 60km/hour.

Resident Di Joyner, who collected 60 signatures for a petition seeking the change, said the positive outcome was a timely one.

“This road has only small parts with a middle line, a blind corner and a lot of wildlife, walkers and often cattle, so the 60km was very necessary,” she said.

“The fact that they’ve reduced it to 60 is very fortuitous because the population using that road is due to double once all those (housing allotments) are built on.”

However, the push to lower the speed limit didn’t have unanimous support.

“When we started petitioning there were two or three people who said they would not sign because they specifically used Ocean View Road because there was no speed limit,” Ms Joyner said.

Moreton Bay councillor Bob Millar (Division 11) said Council had “undertaken speed reviews on a number of roads around the region over last few years and signed them accordingly”.

“A lot of rural roads have an open speed limit … and we’ve formalised that speed as we have done on a number of other roads around the region,” he said.

“Drivers should always drive at a safe speed relative to the road conditions, even if the posted speed (limit) may indicate that you could drive faster.

“The geometry of most of Ocean View Road really does not enable drivers to drive beyond this speed, and in many cases a safe driving speed needs to be less.”

Dayboro Police Sergeant Ken Robinson said while most rural roads in the area had signage in place, Ocean View Road had been an exception.

“For a road that gets a fair bit of traffic it was a bit of an exception for it not to be clearly signposted,” he said.

“We asked for clarity as to what the appropriate speed was in certain areas because it was a bit ambiguous.

“It was never an ideal road to do a high speed on, so hopefully the 60 (zoning) will bring some consistency and draw people’s attention that it isn’t a road you can travel on at high speed.”

Sgt Robinson said police would “patrol and assist with the education of the new speed limit”, adding “one those things will be some enforcement”.