By Brendan Rees
Calls have mounted by residents for a footpath to be installed on a busy road in Blind Bight as cars narrowly avoided hitting pedestrians.
Residents want action to be taken on the intersection of Cormorant Close and Blind Bight Road as pedestrians were being forced to walk onto the road for about 150 metres as a footpath was non-existent.
Despite their pleas to Casey Council over the past year, a footpath was yet to be proposed.
Blind Bight resident Bob O’Connell says the road experiences quite a lot of foot traffic, particularly just after school hours and lives were being put at risk.
“They’ve dogs on leads, kids getting off school buses, and of course cars come past and go out wide because of the people walking and cars coming the opposite way don’t see them until the last minute,” Mr O’Connell said.
“There have been 20 accidents and we’ve had one woman airlifted to hospital.
He said two gum trees were within two metres of the road of where a footpath should be.
“If we could extent the footpath another 150 metres, it’s only got to be a gravel path; another 150 metres would solve the problem.”
Casey Council’s Manager City Design and Construction Trevor Griffin said as part of Council’s Linking Paths Program, Blind Bight was “listed for investigation” for the construction of a footpath on Anchorage Drive to Warneet Road.
“Subject to the outcome of this, a pathway will be considered for funding under this program. Paths in this program are prioritised and assessed based on their expected value and need from residents,” he said.
Member for Hastings Neale Burgess said he had written twice to the City of Casey about the need for a footpath after being approached by concerned residents.
“There is an urgent need for a footpath along a section of Blind Bight Road so that school children, mothers pushing their prams and residents walking their dogs have somewhere to walk in safety and won’t have to worry about oncoming motorists,” Mr Burgess said.
“Council has funding through its Linking Paths Program – that provides annual funding for the installation of footpaths across the municipality.
“Community safety is a major priority and I will continue to pursue this matter with the council to get this problem fixed.”
Mr Burgess said residents had witnessed many near miss accidents at the dangerous intersection.
