Speed humps to calm hoons

By Sarah Schwager
AFTER five years of lobbying, Cranbourne North residents are finally getting their long-awaited speed humps.
Residents of Hazelwood Avenue have long complained about hoons using the road as a drag strip, speed-related accidents and increasing traffic.
Many cars use the road to escape the South Gippsland Highway traffic to get to Thompsons Road.
Hazelwood Avenue resident Rod Teal estimated about 28,000 cars used the road each week.
At last week’s Casey Council meeting, councillors passed a motion allowing the special rubber bus cushion speed humps to go into the street and works have already begun.
It is one of the few locations that bus pads have been installed with adjoining Huon Park Drive receiving them last July and they have proved to be very effective in slowing down traffic and deterring hoons.
Councillor Steve Beardon said the residential streets of Hazelwood Avenue and Huon Park Drive, which have schools adjoining them, counted about 3500 traffic movements a day.
“Cranbourne is an inner suburban family area and parents should be able to let their kids play out front without the risk of a car crashing into their front yards and homes as has been the case in the past,” he said.
“Cranbourne streets are not Bathurst or Indy 500 racetracks.
“Next for me is to look to increase funding for additional speed calming devices to put a dent in the waiting list across the entire city, including Cranbourne.”
Mr Teal said he hoped the new speed humps worked in deterring traffic, which he said had grown immensely since they began lobbying five years ago, with new estates built up around the area.
“It’s nice council finally realised that there is extra traffic and speeding issues and that they have come to acknowledge that we were right,” he said.