By Brendan Rees
A busy stretch of road in Hampton Park badly needs to be reduced with too many vehicles “slamming on brakes” and narrowly missing pedestrians, a Casey Councillor says.
Cr Damien Rosario says he had received too many complaints from residents regarding road safety on Pound Road, with a truck also “veering off the road, missing a girl by two metres” on two occasions at a school crossing only weeks ago.
“Visibility is one of the big things I think is the major problem with Pound Road,” he said.
Cr Rosario successfully moved a motion at a Casey Council meeting on 15 May, calling for VicRoads and the State Government to reduce the speed limit of Pound Road and Shrives Road from 70km/h to 60km/h.
VicRoads Manager of Movement and Safety Sasha Yarwood said safety was taken seriously and “welcomed discussions with the City of Casey and will continue to explore further safety improvements on Pound and Shrives Road.”
Following a review, VicRoads says the current 70km/h speed limit was “considered appropriate” and there are currently no plans to reduce the speed limit on Pound Road and Shrives Road.
Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan said $7.6 million had been invested to install a new roundabout at the intersection of Pound Road and Shrives Road “which will improve safety and ease congestion.”
According to VicRoads, there have been a total of eight crashes on Pound Road with one fatality and one serious injury in the year to January. No crashes were recorded on Shrives Road in the year to January.
Cr Rosario said it “really shamed” him to think that the safety of crossing supervisors and pedestrians were put at risk.
Casey Councillors also voted at their meeting for council to investigate interim measures that will “safeguard” pedestrians before a signalised crossing is installed in November near Narellan Drive.
Cr Rosario said despite the new crossing being a great win for the community “I don’t think we should wait. Six months is a long time and things could happen.”
Hampton Park Secondary College school council president Kerry Baker said Pound Road was a “constant area of concern” for pedestrians.
“It needs to have a set of traffic lights somewhere. A drop in speed limit would help,” she said.
Hampton Park Bowls Club president Neville Hendrie said it didn’t matter what speed limit was applied to Pound Road.
However, he said come 3.30pm each day: “It’s just a nightmare to get across that road whether you’re driving a car or walking – traffic builds up that much.
“As for the rest of the day 70km/h is not a problem there because it’s two lanes both ways.”
Federal Member for Holt Anthony Byrne also supported calls by the community and the City of Casey to drop the speed limit on Pound Road and Shrives Road to improve road safety.
Shadow Minister for Roads and Infrastructure David Hodgett has not responded to Star News’ request for comment.
