Whitehorse Road, Blackburn: Pedestrians call for crossing

People fed up with playing “human dodgem” on a busy six-lane Blackburn road are calling for a crossing. Despite bus stops and a park nearby, there is no safe way for pedestrians to cross.

Michael Farnbach is calling for a crossing along Whitehorse Rd.

Pedestrians are calling for a crossing on a busy six-lane Blackburn road, claiming they are forced to “to play human dodgem” to get to the other side.

Whitehorse Road is without a crossing for about 1km — from Middleborough Rd to Williams Rd — despite bus stops, a park and a church being located along the stretch of road.

Pedestrians can regularly be seen running across the main road, navigating around the metal barriers and through the turning lanes, to beat the cars travelling at 60km/hour.

Blackburn’s Michael and Monika Farnbach said they were in disbelief a crossing or overpass hadn’t been installed along the stretch of road.

There are no crossings between Middleborough Rd and Williams Rd.

Ms Farnbach said the road made her feel “extremely” unsafe.

“People get off the bus and have to run across the road.”

“It’s really uncomfortable,” she said. “I cannot imagine crossing here with a pram.”

“I think people are used to it so no one complains about it.”

Mr Farnbach said the lack of crossings was a particular issue for people trying to access

Elmhurst Basin Reserve.

The park is located along a curve in the road, and a metal barrier along the edge of the road means pedestrians have to travel further on the road to get around it.

Mr Farnbach said he had spoken to many other people who were “having to play human dodgem”.

“It’s a real dangerous dash.”

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The section of road is less than 500m from both Laburnum and Blackburn railway stations.

Ms Farnbach said being unable to cross the road spilt the suburb in half, making it difficult for walkers and cyclists to get around Blackburn.

Readers commenting on Whitehorse Leader’s Facebook page agreed a way for pedestrians to cross safely was needed.

Melissa Anderson said an overpass was “definitely” needed, while Justine Ryan commented there were “always people darting across heading for the station, including school kids”.

Madeleine James said she used to drive along the road twice a day and “would regularly encounter pedestrians crossing dangerously”.

Elmhurst Basin Reserve is in the middle of the crossing-less stretch of Whitehorse Rd.

But Michael Cheong said pedestrians needed to learn to use the traffic lights and walk to where there were crossings.

He said the barrier on the curved part of road was there because it was “a black spot”.

Whitehorse Council general manager city development Jeff Green said the council had not previously considered the situation along the stretch of Whitehorse Rd, and was not aware of any complaints about it

Mr Green said the road was managed by VicRoads and was not the council’s responsibility.

Department of Transport spokeswoman Lauren Hilbert said VicRoads welcomed feedback on its roads.

“Our traffic engineers continuously monitor our network to determine if there are any changes required to improve safety.”

She said no casualty crashes involving pedestrians had been recorded on the stretch of road in the five years leading up to December 31, 2018 and any improvements to build a pedestrian crossing would be subject to future funding consideration.