by Cam Lucadou-Wells
The State Government says it will reduce the speed limit at a notorious black-spot section of Stud Road, Dandenong North from mid-April.
The speed limit will be reduced from 80 km/h to 60km/h between Cheam Street-Heatherton Road after a 2-year-old boy was tragically killed crossing opposite Dandenong Stadium in December.
He was the second pedestrian killed on the section in the past six years.
Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne said on 28 March that “what we saw on this road last December was absolutely devastating and our thoughts are with all those who have been affected.”
“Any life lost on our roads is one too many – so we’re taking action by reducing the speed limit and investigating other options to improve safety along Stud Road.”
Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams said the new speed limit will “improve safety for those travelling along Stud Road, including to and from our stadium and neighbouring parklands”.
“We will ensure residents and motorists are informed about the changes, while we investigate more options to keep our community safe.”
The Department of Transport and Planning is investigating further safety improvements at the McFees Road-Stud Road intersection, the Government announced.
Greater Dandenong Council has lobbied several years for a fully-signalised pedestrian crossing to link to Dandenong wetlands and the sports stadium.
More than 25,000 commuters travel on the six lane roadway each day.
Residents, including children, regularly bolt across the road to access the popular Dandenong Stadium, a bus stop, playground and floodplains parkland.
The nearest pedestrian crossing is 850 metres away at the Heatherton Road lights, with the eastern side of Stud Road largely without a footpath.
It means many attempt crossing unsafely or instead drive across rather than taking a detour of about 1.7 kilometres.
Greater Dandenong mayor Lana Formoso told Star Journal in mid-March that the council welcomed the speed limit as an “interim safety measure” but the road still required a fully-signalised pedestrian crossing as a “matter of the highest priority”.
The council will lobby for funding for a fully-signalised pedestrian crossing at Stud and McFees in the State Budget in May, Cr Formoso said.
“We must have a way for pedestrians, commuters and cyclists to safely cross Stud Road.”
The notorious black-spot has a reported history of serious accidents and fatalities, with residents and Greater Dandenong Council long calling for a reduced speed limit and a safe crossing.
In 2018, VicRoads pledged to install pedestrian lights and review the speed limit after a pedestrian in her 50s was fatally struck while crossing to a nearby bus stop.
Cr Formoso led public outcry after a two-year-boy was fatally struck by a car as he and his father attempted to cross the six-lane road on 17 December.
As an SES volunteer, she was one of the first at the tragic scene.
“This was preventable – if it was built when it was supposed to be,” she told Star Journal at the time.
“A signalised pedestrian crossing was shovel-ready since 2019. We’ve been getting the run-around – the (Roads) Minister keeps saying there isn’t enough money.”
She said since 2019 the projected cost had ballooned from $700,000 to about $3.5 million.
