Hoon Avenue

By Bridget Cook
THE City of Casey is set to investigate a number of dangerous road safety concerns in a Cranbourne West residential street.
Local residents of Scarborough Avenue have voiced their concerns over the road being used as a rat run by drivers wanting to bypass Cranbourne’s town centre, and hoons treating it as a racetrack.
Furthermore, some drivers and trail and minibike riders are using the park off Scarborough Avenue, intended for residents to use with their children or dogs.
One local resident, who did not want to be named, said while she recognised hoons were a problem in many neighbourhoods, she was fed up with them using her road.
“They use it to miss Cranbourne High Street because they can quickly wind their way through,” she said.
“However most of the clowns that use it don’t know what 50km/h is. When it’s wet they skid their wheels on the road and are going that fast you couldn’t pick up their number plates if you tried.
“Most of the time they are doing it during the night and before people go to work so they are not getting caught.
“There’s no-one there to stop it.”
She said she feared something bad would happen if something was not done soon.
“I have this dreadful fear that a child will pop out from somewhere and they are going that fast that they won’t have a chance of stopping,” she said.
At Tuesday night’s council meeting, councillor Amanda Stapledon raised a motion for the council officers to investigate the number of concerns at Scarborough Avenue.
“Cars are turning off Sladen Street near Amstel Golf Club and travelling at high speeds through Scarborough Avenue, posing a potential danger to residents and other drivers and disturbing the amenity of this otherwise lovely, quiet neighbourhood,” she said.
“Scarborough Avenue is not a straight road – in fact it has a lot of bends, some quite sharp. This poses its own dangers as some of the people who are using this road see this as a challenge rather than a need to slow down. While I was there, I saw this for myself.
“I spoke to some residents there and one in particular advised me that she and her daughter need to walk four houses from her home in order to cross the road safely due to the cars coming around the corner not leaving sufficient time to stop if they needed to.”
Cr Stapledon said the park being used for motorists was also of great concern.
“When I went to look atthis neighbourhood, I noticedhow peaceful it was and how cared for it is by its residents,” shesaid.
“I saw mothers with their children, people with their dogs walking through the park and this was on a weekday.
“Of a weekend of course, this activity increases significantly and is competing with hoons on the street and vehicles using the park that is designed for residents with their children and dogs.”
Cr Stapledon said this was a prime example of why the council needed to invest in a purpose-built location for bike enthusiasts in Casey to use – something she has strongly advocated.
The council will investigate putting in barriers at the parkland area to minimise car and motorbike access.
A report will come back at a later council meeting.