An elderly resident who advocated for a safer crossing on Stud Road, Dandenong North has lost her on-street car park space as part of an intersection redesign.
Elisabeth Weber, 86, has lived at the service road corner of Stud and McFees roads for more than 60 years, as one of the first homes in the area.
While her neighbours can park their cars on the service road in front of their addresses, Ms Weber has been left with none.
“We needed the (pedestrian) lights very badly, except they took my parking spots away – I need that very badly too.
“I don’t know why they changed their mind.”
Ms Weber joined a successful campaign with councillor Lana Formoso and the wider community for a traffic-light controlled pedestrian crossing to the nearby Dandenong Stadium, bus stop and parklands.
It came after a series of pedestrian fatalities including a toddler who was fatally struck while crossing with his father in December 2023.
Under the re-design, the service road has been blocked-off just after Ms Weber’s narrow driveway, so cars exit directly onto Stud Road instead of McFees Road. The previous on-street parking space has been replaced by a widened nature strip and footpath.
Before the works began, she says she received a doorknock to let her know she will keep two parking spots right in front of her house. She was never consulted on the apparent design change.
The 86-year-old lives independently in her home, with the help of a cleaner every week, and a gardener and massage person every second week.
“Because my carer comes, she has to park here at the driveway, and the massage lady had to park further down and carry the table all the way, so I had to change the time.
“She comes on Monday lunchtime and the gardener in the late afternoon, otherwise they can’t park.
“But what happens then if I need an ambulance?”
A Victorian Government spokesperson said that “we have worked with the local community to reduce disruptions.”
It’s believed that the Department of Transport and Planning undertook consultation with the community throughout the project both in the lead up to the construction and during the works.
Efforts were said to have made to ensure minimal impact including car spaces and while preliminary designs aimed to retain the car spaces, further reviews of detailed designs identified road safety issues.
The project continued with an altered and safer service road and an extended footpath.
Following this decision, representatives from DTP spoke with Greater Dandenong Council and the local community, including in-person doorknocking with impacted residents, to advise of the necessary changes to the design.
A next-door neighbour of 18 years, Jacqueline Murray says, “the plans changed completely.”
“It a silly thing they’ve done, mainly for Elisabeth.
“She had a friend come last week. He had a four-wheel drive, it took him three attempts to get off the service road from her driveway to get onto Stud Rd – you have to back around couple times.”
She says parking their cars on the service road is also a risk, as cars driving past on the service road come very close to their parked cars.
According to her, some vehicles have driven on top of the new footpath which is why her husband blocked the new footpath with T-top bollards.
“If visitors come, it’s a risk of them too. I don’t know how it’s all going to end.”
When Ms Weber’s children and grandchildren gather at her place for Christmas, they’ll have to hunt for a parking space – something they never had to deal with before.
It is anticipated that the $12.6 million state and federally-project will be complete in coming months.
