Speedsters go unimpeded

A 50km/h speed sign. Picture: BIDGEE, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

By CASEY NEILL

DRIVERS on Keysborough’s Church Road and Westwood Boulevard are consistently speeding, but slowing them down could take years.
Greater Dandenong Councillor Matthew Kirwan asked about the latest speed measurements for the thoroughfares at the Tuesday 26 April council meeting.
“I still get complaints from young families concerned about speeding in that area, and inquiries to me have increased since residents have witnessed monitoring on Church Road,” he said.
The council’s engineering services director Julie Reid said she’d received the Church Road results the previous week, and that the Westwood Boulevard measurements from last year were still current.
She said that 85 per cent of traffic was travelling at or above the 50km speed limit.
Ms Reid said the majority of the speeding drivers were travelling below 60km/h.
She said the roads had been added to a road safety priority program, but did not rank highly enough to be dealt with in the next year or two.
She said her team would continue to monitor the area.
“It all comes down to funding and priorities,” she said.
Cr Kirwan asked if the number of young families in an area influenced its placing on the priority list.
Ms Reid told him that it was not taken into account, and that the severity of the speeding was the most influential indicator.
She said that the council could choose to make the area a higher priority.
“We don’t have an infinite amount of resources,” she said.