By Goya Dmytryshchak
A petition has been lodged with the state government calling for urgent action on pedestrian safety at the intersection of Point Cook Road, Central Avenue and the Princes Freeway exit and entry at Altona Meadows.
Hobsons Bay council resolved last week to back residents by writing to Roads Minister Luke Donnellan supporting a call for action.
A council officer’s report stated that in the five years to the end of 2016, there were 16 collisions at the location, which was the only spot in Melbourne’s west to make the top 10 in the 2016 RACV Redspot Survey.
One of the lead petitioners, Altona Meadows’ Brett Sause, said he walked to Aircraft Station at Laverton each morning, weaving through traffic as there were no pedestrian crossings.
“The biggest concern of a morning, you’re crossing four lanes of busy peak-hour traffic just to get across the road,” he said.
“Some people will let you cross, other times you might get across one lane OK and then the second driver going won’t stop and you get stuck in between two lanes – it’s quite dangerous.
“I witnessed a young lady with a school bag nearly get collected by a truck.”
Cr Colleen Gates said VicRoads had developed a business case seeking funding in the 2018-19 state budget for safety measures including:
•Formalised treatment for pedestrians and cyclists at Point Cook Road and Central Avenue.
•Alternative freeway off-ramps to Point Cook Road.
•Increased capacity for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists on the Point Cook Road overpass.
• Removal of the freeway off-ramp through the Aviation Road Laverton activity centre.
