By Sahar Foladi
A Greater Dandenong councillor has pleaded for action to reverse the shocking toll of pedestrian fatalities in the municipality.
Fifteen pedestrians have been killed in Greater Dandenong in the past decade, the second-highest in the state.
In a council meeting on 14 March Greater Dandenong engineering director Paul Kearsley noted 13 of the fatalities were on state-managed arterial roads.
He said some of the locations have been upgraded by the State Government since the fatal incidents, including new signals on Springvale Road and Heatherton Road and reduced speed limits on Princes Highway.
The council has been advocating for a number of high priority road safety projects on arterial roads, he said.
Its “No.1 priority” is for a safe crossing on Stud Road at McPhees Road near Dandenong basketball stadium.
“Our officers are working with the Department of Transport and Planning to finalise designs for signals and we believe that the Victorian Government need to fund these signals as a matter of urgency,” Mr Kearsley said.
The 80 km/h section of Stud Road separates Dandenong North residents from the Dandenong basketball stadium, walking and cycling paths and the bus stop.
More than 15,000 people use the stadium each week but the nearest signalised pedestrian crossing is more than a kilometre away.
A woman in her 50’s lost her life when she was struck by a car as she tried to cross Stud Road in 2018.
Since then deputy mayor Lana Formoso has been advocating for a signalised pedestrian crossing on the state managed arterial road.
“Yet again, another issue that I’ve been going on about since I’ve gotten on council,” Cr Formoso said in the council meeting.
“Stud Road is definitely something we should be rallying behind. It’s an absolute must.
“I’ve witnessed a fatality there myself. I also witnessed a fatality on Wellington Road just last week, which was horrific – another pedestrian was struck.
“I don’t want to see any more fatalities on our road but in particular not in our municipality. I mean it’s just unacceptable one life (lost) is too many.
“So we really need to rally together as a council to start making these necessary changes.”
The State Government committed funding in 2020-’21 to investigate safer pedestrian crossing options across Stud Road.
The options are still subject to consideration, and pending future funding.
Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams said she would “continue to advocate for improvements on Stud Road in Dandenong”.
“The safety of all road users is our highest priority – which is why we’re continuing to improve our local roads and monitor safety across the area.”
A young adult has 10 per cent chance of being killed if hit by a car at 30km/h, 40 per cent at 40km/h and doubles to 80 per cent at 50km/h research shows.
Mr Kearsley said as part of the Government’s Smarter Roads program, pedestrian detectors have been installed at number of signals.
The council is also advocating for pedestrian signals at Heatherton Road, Noble Park.
Mr Kearsley said council will continue to advocate for ongoing investment in pedestrian safety education.
“We believe education also has a critical role to play, particularly with erratic and unsafe pedestrian behaviour including crossing at unsafe locations contributing to several accidents on arterial roads.”
