School zone plea turned down for Bell St at Coburg High School

About 400 Coburg High students cross Bell St before and after classes each day as they rush to and from buses. But an attempt to have a 40km/h school zone created has been turned down after not ticking off enough boxes.

Principal Stewart Milner is worried about his students crossing Bell St. Picture: Ellen Smith

Hundreds of students are at risk of stepping into traffic on Bell St each day, but a school zone has been turned down.

About 400 Coburg High School students cross Bell St in both the morning and afternoon, with the post-school rush leading to dangerous numbers of students packing into bus stops between Pentridge Boulevard and Alva Grove.

Coburg High students pile into a narrow stop. Picture: Ellen Smith

The Leader witnessed students running across Bell St to reach departing buses after school, with a narrow stop on the southern side becoming dangerously full between buses.

Coburg High principal Stewart Milner said the school had approached VicRoads to ask for a 40km/h school zone earlier this year but were turned down.

“We talk to the students about safety on this road,” he said.

“We’ve had near misses where kids run across and any incident we have could be really severe.

“Unfortunately, what it takes for action is for someone to be injured on here.”

Children regularly run across the road to make the next bus. Picture: Ellen Smith

Department of Transport spokesman Vince Punaro said after a review, the current 60km/h limit was deemed appropriate.

The road did not match the criteria for a school zone, which is based on traffic volume, the number of heavy vehicles on the road, traffic lanes and the amount of children crossing the road.

MORE NEWS: TRADERS FEEL PINCH OF COUNCIL WORKS

APOLOGY, OFFICIAL TOLL NEXT STEPS ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: ACTIVIST

PUB DREAM TEAM MOVES JUST 200M DOWN SYDNEY RD

“We will be speaking with the school and investigating whether we can make any improvements to make Bell Street safer, particularly for pedestrians,” Mr Punaro said.

Mr Milner said the school would also campaign for safety barriers at bus stops.