By Casey Neill
A corner-cutting truck almost struck a Greater Dandenong councillor who was highlighting the dangerous practice in Noble Park North.
Councillor Zaynoun Melhem had to jump from the vehicle’s path during a photo shoot at Browns and Police roads with the Journal on Wednesday 16 August.
He was crouched on the footpath near the roadside when a truck driver swung off the road and onto the pavement.
Cr Melhem raised this exact issue at the Monday 14 August Greater Dandenong Council meeting.
He said trucks turning left into Browns Road from Police Road were regularly driving over the footpath.
Cr Melhem said this not only damaged the footpath but was “a disaster waiting to happen”.
“The kids from Nazareth and Carwatha College are always waiting on there,” he said.
He said the council had previously patched the broken footpath with crushed rock but there was no deterrent for the truck drivers to stop the behaviour.
Cr Melhem suggested bollards could do the job, but asked the council’s engineering services director Julie Reid to look into the situation.
Ms Reid advised the Journal that VicRoads managed the intersection.
VicRoads’ Metro South East Movement and Safety Manager Sasha Yarwood said the road authority would “take this feedback on board from council and monitor the operation of the intersection to make sure it is safe for all road users”.
