By CASEY NEILL
AN urgent push to save lives at a troubled Dandenong intersection is gaining momentum.
The Robinson Street and Princes Highway juncture is earmarked for traffic lights but VicRoads can’t say when the signalisation will happen.
It’s become a major entrance to Dandenong following the removal of turns into Lonsdale Street during the Revitalising Central Dandenong project.
Tim Dionyssopoulos, a road trauma principal at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers’ Dandenong office, said the site would “claim more victims” unless VicRoads rectified confusion.
He said VicRoads documents showed there were 14 reported accidents at the intersection between July 2004 and July 2009, and his legal team had spoken to more accident victims since the study.
“If action isn’t taken soon to alleviate this risk, further accidents will occur,” Mr Dionyssopoulos said.
“This is in a key stretch of the highway close to schools and parks.
“For anyone who regularly drives around the intersection, it seems only a matter of time before there’s more trouble due to the confusion caused by the lights.”
Mr Dionyssopoulos said these lights were pedestrian signals with a timing anomaly that meant people turning right into Robinson Street from the highway wrongly assumed oncoming traffic had a red light.
He also said drivers exiting Robinson Street saw traffic on the other side of the highway stopped at a red light, and often incorrectly assumed oncoming traffic on the Robinson Street side was too.
“I have to deal with the aftermath of when things go wrong on the roads, and it is particularly frustrating when you have the opportunity to avoid a disaster but don’t take the opportunity to fix something like this,” he said.
Dandenong Retail Traders’ Association (DRTA) chairwoman Glenys Cooper said the group would continue to pressure VicRoads and other authorities for traffic lights at the site.
“The installation of these lights is an important aspect of not only re-direction of traffic flow, but road safety within the central Dandenong area,” she said.
“The intersection is increasingly being used and on many occasions I have seen near-misses of both cars and pedestrians with confusion with the current light set-up, impatience of both people and drivers and increased traffic flow.
“Action needs to be taken now, before it becomes a ‘black spot’ zone.”
VicRoads regional director Adam Maguire said the road authority had developed a proposal for lights that would be considered for future funding.
“VicRoads receives many requests each year for traffic signals throughout Victoria,” he said.
“All requests are prioritised based on the extent to which such a treatment would improve safety and/or congestion at the intersection.”
Mr Maguire said VicRoads considered factors such as the number and type of vehicles using the intersection, catering for pedestrians, the site’s safety record, the impact on the surrounding road network and costs.
He said there were 12 recorded casualty crashes at the site in the five-year period to 31 December last year.
