Audit reveals Adelaide school pedestrian crossings that failed safety checks after Marraytville High School horror crash

Dozens of traffic light pedestrian crossings, including some outside the state’s most popular schools, failed to meet safety standards in an official audit. See the full results here.

Dozens of Adelaide traffic light pedestrian crossings, including some outside some of the state’s most popular schools, failed safety rules, an official audit revealed.

New Transport Department data reveals more than a third of 69 major road crossings that were identified as needing urgent works, were located outside education institutions.

Authorities, who launched the audit after a horror crash involving Marryatville High School students earlier this year, found a quarter of 240 Pedestrian Actuated Crossings failed safety checks.

The audit’s full results, only released after The Advertiser’s inquiries, show failures were found at crossings outside 18 primary schools, five high schools or colleges and a university.

The pedestrian crossing on Portrush Rd, near Stafford Grove, in Marryatville. Picture: Matt Loxton

The Opposition said it was “deeply concerning” that issues were found outside schools. Authorities said most had been addressed.

The majority of required works were for tree trimming of branches, or limbs, that covered lights.

Another four sites failed checks due to obstructions from lights, bike lane signs and an adjacent private property veranda.

Primary school locations included Greenhill Rd and Clark St near Annesley Junior School, Penfold Rd and Adelaide Rd outside Magill Primary School, Portrush Rd and Harcourt Rd adjacent St Joseph’s Payneham, and East Ave and Hubbard St adjoining St Michael’s College.

Portrush Rd and Stafford Gr near Loreto College, Prospect Rd and Methuen St outside Blackfriars Priory School were also found with problems.

Inspectors also identified a crossing at St Bernards Rd and Edward St, outside UniSA’s eastern suburbs campus at Magill.

Opposition road safety spokesman, Vincent Tarzia, said: “While we’re pleased the Malinauskas Labor Government listened to our calls and conducted a review into pedestrian crossings, it’s deeply concerning so many issues were found outside our schools.

“We simply cannot put a price on the safety of our children. It shouldn’t have taken two teenagers being seriously injured for our school crossings to be properly maintained.”

Marryatville High School pedestrian crossing lights on Kensington Road partially covered with tree foliage. Picture: Russell Millard

Pedestrians cross at the corner of Portrush Rd and Stafford Grove in front of Loreto College in Marryatville. The crossing was supposed to be cleared of vegetation obscuring the lights. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Overgrown foliage was believed to have played a role in blocking eastern suburbs traffic lights outside Marryatville.

Officials said works to trim branches at other locations were completed almost a fortnight ago.

But a Transport Department spokesman said the four sites with obstructions “require a longer-term solution and are currently being investigated”.

“The audit into all metropolitan PACs on state-maintained roads was to ensure that all traffic signals at PACs are visible to driver from an adequate distance,” he said.

Marryatville High School pedestrian crossing lights on Kensington Road. Picture: Supplied

The state government last week finally announced new safety measures outside the Marryatville site, where two students were struck when a truck drove through a red light in March. The driver has been charged.

Police Minister Joe Szakacs said the state government had left “no stone unturned with the engagement on this issue”.

He said a fixed red light and speed camera would be installed, and additional signs to alert drivers of the lights and crossing ahead were installed last week.

Mr Szakacs hoped the audit and new safety measure would be mean “we never see a horrific incidents in the vicinity again”.