By Brendan Rees and Cam Lacadou-Wells
A petition with more than 160 signatures from the Lynbrook community has sought a supervised school crossing at a busy highway in Lynbrook.
The push comes after a concerned resident witnessed a truck running a red light just as a young girl was about to cross at the South Gippsland Highway and Lynbrook Boulevard intersection.
The witness account was posted on the Lynbrook Social Page.
“There was a large outcry, and in conjunction with Cr Smith, a petition was started to get a crossing supervisor,” said head petitioner and Lynbrook Residents Association president Jason Wood.
“There were many posts about trucks constantly running the red turning light at the intersection, and even a few videos of this posted.”
Mr Wood said one of the residents approached Suez Waste Management and J.J. Richards and Sons.
“Both companies were very receptive,” he said. “Suez produced a flyer to hand to all trucks going into their facility.”
He said the push for a crossing may be difficult as the site had to meet VicRoads requirements.
“The problem is most parents do not let their children use the crossing due to how dangerous it is. This leads to an excess of cars at the school.”
Casey Council voted to accept the petition of 164 signatures which was tabled during a council meeting on Tuesday 5 December.
Casey Cr Wayne Smith said the intersection was dangerous and trucks from a neighbouring tip had been caught on video going against the lights, and the drivers were subsequently identified by the tip operator.
He said car crashes happened on a “weekly basis”.
He added Casey Council successfully lobbied against a dangerous bus route created by State Government and PTV so children didn’t have to cross the intersection.
He said parents in Lynbrook also wouldn’t let their children cross the road because of the risk it posed. Cr Damien Rosario said the intersection was “plagued by problems for a very long time”.
“There’s definitely driver behaviour that needs to change.”
He said two children died in a “pretty horrific” car crash at the intersection, adding a safety camera at the intersection raised almost a million dollars in one year.
Cr Rosario said Casey Council successfully lobbied VicRoads to brighten the traffic signals and install yellow signs ahead of the intersection.
Lynbrook Primary School principal David Payne said the school definitely supported the proposal.
“It has been reported to me a couple times over the past five years by motorists that there had been children who had close calls.”
“We have one thousand children attending here. Tomorrow is not soon enough as far as child safety goes.”
VicRoads data from 2016 revealed there were four serious injury crashes at the intersection, however none of these incidents involved pedestrians.
A report will come back to council in March, 2018.
