By Brendan Rees
School pick-ups and drop-offs has become such a nightmare for parents in Cranbourne that some have resorted to leaving work hours early just to get a park.
A number of parents told Star News they were at wits end as traffic continued to clog roads outside Cranbourne East Primary School and Cranbourne East Secondary School.
According to one parent, Lauren of Clyde North, who asked not to reveal her surname, she said it was “just craziness in the morning.”
“There is no traffic flow,” she said. “I don’t get here till 3.30 to pick up the kids and there’s no way I’ll get a car park within a kilometre of the school.
“It should take half the amount of time that it does … I’ll either have to be here at 2.30 or 3.30,” she said.
“They’ve stuck a school in the middle of an estate but there’s no provisions road wise for it.”
Lauren also said Bowyer Avenue was too narrow to be a two-way road: “I don’t know what they have this street this way, it doesn’t make any sense.”
She added: “It stops because everyone is confused all the time.”
City of Casey Deputy Mayor Amanda Stapledon told councillors at their Tuesday 7 August meeting that there was a “legacy of problems” with parking at the schools.
“We’ve got no pick-up drop-off areas and we’ve got absolute limited parking and because of that there’s a lot of tensions between drivers,” she said.
“The schools are in agreement that we needed to look at some things and we certainly have.”
Onsite meetings were held between Casey Council and the schools to discuss their concerns with parking in April and June.
Council’s Speed Awareness Mobile Trailer was placed at Bowyer Avenue for a week in May to provide a message to motorists to drive and park in a safe manner.
A report before councillors also said the “Local Laws section has undertaken enforcement in June around both schools and issued several infringements.”
Hector Rosales of Clyde North said so many parents were disobeying the rules in school zones to dodge traffic.
“You see people they get frustrated, they start on the horn, they start swerving around and going above the 40 km/h limit,” he said.
“With the congestion you see a lot of dangerous things like people doubled parked … in the last month, 10 kids were nearly hit.”
“Everyone is in the over the day mood,” he added. “I always try and do the right thing no matter what time it is.”
“It’s a nightmare, I get here 2.25pm from Mulgrave and even then I struggle to find a carpark.“
Another parent, Simran of Cranbourne East, who asked not to reveal her surname, said cars were constantly “neck to neck” on Bowyer Avenue during peak times.
“If you come after 2.45, there’s no way you’ll get a park,” she said.
Have your say on the state of local roads by visiting: https://starcommunity.com.au/competitions/14-08-2018/ublock-gridlock-reader-poll/#//
