Crossing welcomed – with reservations

By Sarah Schwager
A NEW supervised school crossing will be installed near Hampton Park Secondary College and down from River Gum Primary School.
Hampton Park Secondary College principal John Pech said, while the school was pleased with Casey Council’s announcement, he was unsure the announced location was the best place for the crossing.
The supervised flagged school crossing would be located on busy Cairns Road between Campbell Drive and Horton Drive.
“There are an awful lot of kids exiting the college onto the local streets between us and River Gum Primary School,” Mr Pech said.
“My concern is that there is not a lot of incentive to use the crossing. Students will often take the shortest path.”
He said this would be directly from Campbell Drive on the side closest to the school.
Hampton Park Secondary College lies on Campbell Drive, with many students from the secondary school and River Gum Primary School, at the top of Campbell Drive on Fordholm Road, walking down to Cairns Road.
Casey Council traffic manager Paul Hamilton said council officers recently undertook pedestrian counts in Cairns Road, which identified the need for a pedestrian crossing.
“A decision has been made to install a new supervised flagged school crossing in Cairns Road between Campbell Drive and Horton Drive due to the number of students crossing Cairns Road at this location,” Mr Hamilton said.
“The installation will require some works to be undertaken before it can operate.”
He expected the crossing would begin operating for fourth term, starting 2 October, of this school year.
“Council officers are constantly reviewing the need for pedestrian facilities across the municipality and investigating potential new pedestrian crossing sites,” Mr Hamilton said.
Lyndhurst Liberal candidate Gary Anderton, said he was pleased to hear a crossing would be installed on Cairns Road as he had lobbied the City of Casey and VicRoads for one for some time.
“With many young families in this area it is our responsibility to promote a sense of community safety.
“Without a safe pedestrian crossing area, we are teaching our children that darting across the road between breaks in traffic is acceptable,” Mr Anderton said.