by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A pre-federal election funding boost is set to ensure a long-awaited pedestrian crossing at a Stud Road blackspot within 12 months.
Weeks ahead of the next election, the Federal Government has announced $6.3 million to partly fund traffic lights with improved pedestrian and cycle paths at the intersection of McFees Road, outside Dandenong Stadium.
It brings forward the project, which had been previously expected to finish in 2027. Works are now expected to start in May and finish next February.
The State Government – which announced funding in last year’s budget – will contribute the other $6.3 million towards the $12.6 million project.
Bruce MP Julian Hill said the “milestone investment” would improve safety and access for the many families regularly using Dandenong Stadium and Stud Road.
“Our community has been asking for a safer Stud Rd and McFees Rd intersection for many years, with advocacy from all levels of Government following tragic fatalities in this area.
“I have listened carefully to the community and worked with the Albanese Labor Government to respond and secure funding for these works.”
In 2018, VicRoads had 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.
Calls intensified after a two-year-old Dandenong North boy was fatally struck by a car while crossing the six-lane Stud Road section in December 2023.
A State Coroner investigating the death recently recommended safer pedestrian access.
There had been a “cluster of collisions” in the same location plus further ones in the “general vicinity” on Stud Road, Judge John Cain reported on 13 November.
As reported previously by Star Journal, councillor and ex-mayor Lana Formoso had spent several years advocating for the crossing.
She told of children dashing to the other side of Stud Road to access a bus stop into Central Dandenong, Dandenong Stadium, its 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.
In April 2024, the 80km/h Stud Road speed limit was reduced by the State Government to 60km/h as an interim step.
