Cherryhills Drive
By Bridget Cook
A GROUP of Cranbourne residents have renewed calls for speed humps in their street, with increased traffic now coming to the area.
In January this year, the News reported that Cherryhills Drive residents feared their children were in danger of being killed as hoons speed through their road, which they said was designed like a racetrack.
The residents have experienced a few near misses, with drivers losing control and ending up on their front lawns. At the time, the council said the road didn’t qualify for speed humps.
Since then, a skate park has gone up in the street, and residents said this was causing more problems. Resident Karen Davis said while it was great to have the skate park, it meant that more cars were using the road.
“If Casey can afford to put in a skate park, why can’t they afford to put in speed humps?” she said.
“It’s wonderful that we are getting these new things, but they haven’t looked at the traffic problems that come with it. This situation is ridiculous.”
Ms Davis said increased traffic flow wasn’t the only problem.
“Since the skate park has been built, parents slow down on the road to stop and let their children out. It’s not only a traffic hazard, but with the speed that the hoons come flying around the corner, they could get cleaned up,” she said.
“We were concerned about our children being hit by hoons, but now there are more kids in the area using the skatepark. It’s an accident waiting to happen.”
City of Casey manager transport Paul Hamilton said a report covering the 2011 Review of the Local Traffic Management (LTM) Strategy was presented to the council at its meeting of 5 April this year.
He said the review incorporated expanded assessment criteria in response to community concerns regarding speeding traffic in residential areas, which included Cherryhills Drive.
“Under the revised LTM scoring, Cherryhills Drive was assessed to have a relative low score compared to other locations across Casey. Cherryhills Drive currently does not meet the minimum intervention level set by council to warrant the installation of traffic calming devices.”
“The council acknowledges residents’ concerns regarding hoon behaviour in the Brookland Greens estate and is working with Victoria Police to eradicate hoon behaviour through the distribution of ’50 In My Street’ stickers to residents and the installation of Hoon Hotline signage in the street.”
Mr Hamilton said the skate park project was one of a number of measures being undertaken by the council to strengthen and develop the local community in Brookland Greens.
“The community infrastructure projects planned for the Brookland Greens estate are not expected to cause any significant increase in traffic in the estate,” he said.
