By Melissa Meehan
DANDENONG South residents say they are sick and tired of watching school kids wait in the rain for the bus on Hammond Road.
Anna Finikiotou is lobbying the City of Greater Dandenong to reinstate a bus shelter at the Hammond Road bus stop, but the council says it is out of their hands.
“When it is raining, sometimes I can count up to 20 young students catching the 8.20am bus to Dandenong High,” Ms Finikiotou said.
“On Thursday I counted 12 students waiting in the rain, with no umbrellas.
“They are drenched by the time they get to school, their books get wet and I would imagine that they would be extremely cold.” Unhappy that the bus shelter had been removed, Ms Finikiotou described its removal as “unjustifiable”.
“It shows a lack of concern towards the bus commuters of this particular area,” she said.
“It is not an acceptable way to start a school day’s work.”
Ms Finikiotou said she had discussed her concerns with councillor Jim Memeti and Greater Dandenong CEO Tim Tamlin to no avail.
“To date, I have no advice in writing or verbally,” she said.
The Star contacted Mr Tamlin who said the bus stop in question had recently been relocated by the Department of Transport, and because of the physical constraints of the new location, a shelter could not be installed.
He said he had explained this to Ms Finikiotou.
“The council has requested that the Department of Transport relocate the bus stop to its original location so a bus shelter can be installed,” Mr Tamlin said.
“We have also asked the Department of Transport to investigate the need for a bus shelter at the Kirkham Road bus stop.”
He said the council held the view that bus shelters should be installed at stops where they would get the most use and benefit for the community, and said new shelters were being installed throughout the city.
Government spokesman Stephen Moynihan said that the Hammond Road bus stop was upgraded to make way for the new Route 901 SmartBus.
“Unfortunately, a shelter cannot be safely installed at this location as it would restrict the line of vision of cars exiting nearby driveways, potentially compromising the safety of road and bus users and pedestrians,” Mr Moynihan said.
