Wesley College parents in fight for crossing supervisor at Punt Rd
Children are “nearly hit every day” on busy Punt Rd — but a bizarre standoff means a school crossing supervisor is only allowed to escort them halfway across Melbourne’s “busiest arterial road”.
Inner South
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Two Melbourne councils’ inability to meet halfway is risking the lives of primary children trying to cross Melbourne’s “busiest arterial road”, a parent has claimed.
A rare zoning quirk outside Wesley College junior school in Windsor has left students without a crossing supervisor for half of eight-lane Punt Rd.
Port Phillip Council funds a crossing supervisor on its half of the road, but Stonnington Council refuses to.
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And parent Mya Cubitt, a Royal Melbourne Hospital trauma doctor, warns kids are “nearly hit every day” on the major thoroughfare, which carries more than 90,000 cars a day.
Dr Cubitt said she’d fought for a supervisor for almost a year before Port Phillip installed a lollipop man outside the 300-student school — but only for the four northbound lanes.
Stonnington, which is responsible for the four southbound lanes, has refused to stump up the estimated $20,000 a year for a supervisor, saying an audit revealed “no concerning driver behaviour”.
Dr Cubitt says the audit “completely misses the point”.
“They say the school is too small or not enough kids use the crossing but even one child getting hit is one too many.”
Port Phillip Mayor Bernadene Voss said the council had urged Stonnington to put a supervisor on its side of Punt Rd.
She said while the site didn’t meet requirements for the school crossing supervisor subsidy, Port Phillip had chosen to splash $13,664 per year to boost safety at the site.
“We believe there are some safety issues for children at primary school age crossing such a busy road,” she said.
Dr Cubitt is also fighting for a 40km/h speed zone at the school.
“I see the real life effects of trauma at work every day and I couldn’t forgive myself if a child or parent at the school — or anyone — ended up in the emergency room,” she said.
“VicRoads said it doesn’t qualify for a 40km/h because there isn’t an entry point to the school on Punt Rd, but 60km/h on an eight-lane road with three-year-olds crossing is just absurd.”
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Just 500m away, the Wesley College senior school campus has a 40km/h limit on Punt Rd, with just two lanes of traffic in each direction.
A Stonnington spokesman, who refused to be named, said the council adhered to the government’s crossing subsidy scheme when assessing potential crossing locations and blamed people double parking for banking up traffic on Punt Rd.
VicRoads has been contacted for comment.