Goodwood Baseball Club welcomes the upgrade of the Springbank intersection

Parents of a southern suburbs baseball club say the upgrade to a notorious intersection – the scene of 35 crashes in five years – will improve safety of junior players.

Joel and Billy Sutton at Mortlock Park, Goodwood. Picture: Emily Jarvis

Young athletes are eagerly awaiting the $61m Springbank Rd upgrade, saying it will make their trip to training faster and safer after years of ‘crazy manoeuvres’.

Joel Sutton along with his 15-year-old – who is a US scholarship hopeful- have been long standing members of the Goodwood Baseball Club at Mortlock Park and say the major upgrade of the Springbank Road intersection is being warmly welcomed by players and parents.

“We live in Happy Valley, which is about 15 to 20 minutes from the ground,” Joel Sutton said.

“The intersection has become very busy; we would be stuck there for anywhere from four to eight minutes just to get through to the club.

“There have definitely been times when people have been late to trainings and it’s a risk for a lot of our junior players who ride through it on their bikes.”

Children as young as three brave the adjoining Goodwood, Springbank and Daws Road intersection as they ride or walk to training with parents also battling peak-hour traffic through the notorious intersection.

On average more than 60,000 vehicles a day travel through the location and there have been 35 crashes in the past five years.

Mortlock Park has been home to the team for nearly five decades now and is often used by local residents for other recreational activities.

“Hundreds of juniors being involved at the club means that traffic safety is a high priority for us,” Mr Sutton said.

“When there was a backup of traffic you would get people doing pretty crazy manoeuvres to get out of the traffic; there were a lot of issues with people braking suddenly.

“We’re also in the process of upgrading our facilities here as well so it’s really important the our juniors and their families stay invested and wanting to stick around.”

The $61.4m Springbank Rd upgrade is being jointly funded by both the state and federal government.