Greenvale’s Aitken College takes drastic measures to deal with Mickleham Rd traffic congestion

Kids at a Greenvale school on a congestion-choked road are being ferried in on charter buses to help them get to class on time — and could even be taken to another school if an accident closes the strip. Frustrated school leaders are begging for help.

Traffic has become so bad outside a northern suburbs school that charter buses have been put on to help get kids to class on time.

Greenvale’s Aitken College — located on a single-lane horror stretch of Mickleham Rd — has also devised emergency procedures for when a crash closes the road and staff and students can’t get in at all.

Principal Josie Crisara said traffic generated by the school had decreased since 2010 but the explosion of housing developments in Melbourne’s outer north had seen the arterial route struggle to cope.

Greenvale Residents Association’s Joanna Rees, Tamara Nolan and Kathryn McKenzie with Aitken College principal Josie Crisara.

She said the college operated six charter buses on top of school and public buses, while many parents car-pooled and some students walked to try and beat the congestion.

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“Traffic delays in and out of the college have increased from about 10 minutes to 40-50 minutes in 10 years,” Ms Crisara said.

Mickleham Rd morning peak hour traffic near the entrance to Aitken College. Picture: Rob Leeson.

“(We) had to (formulate) emergency management plans for when Mickleham Rd is closed to traffic in an emergency, which requires meeting off-site at another school for students and staff who can’t get to school in the morning.”

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She said they had almost activated it twice, and staff underwent training on the procedure twice a year.

Ms Crisara said the college had even extended its slip lane, added another one and essentially widened a stretch of Mickleham Rd.

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The push for extra lanes on Mickleham and Somerton roads intensified after Hume councillor Joseph Haweil invited two state government ministers on his “nightmare” morning commute, a journey he said takes 30 minutes to travel just 8km.

Hume Mayor Carly Moore and Cr Joseph Howell on Mickleham Rd during the morning peak.

The school, council and Greenvale Residents Association have called on the State Government to fund and prioritise the duplication of Somerton Rd and Mickleham Rd, north of Somerton Rd.

Yuroke state Labor MP Ros Spence said securing funding to duplicate Mickleham Rd was her top priority, and she strongly supported duplicating Somerton Rd.

She said she regularly met with Roads Minister Jaala Pulford to push its urgency.

“My family and I have lived in Greenvale for many years, and we travel on Mickleham Rd nearly every day,” Ms Spence said.

“I know from first-hand experience how frustrating it is.”

She said measures such as right turn bans at the school, adjustments to nearby traffic lights and keep clear road markings had not fixed the congestion.

Analysis by GTA traffic consultants showed vehicle movements outside the school had doubled from about 900 per hour during AM and PM peaks in 2010 to 1900 in 2019.

Residents Association roads subcommittee chair Tamara Nolan said a petition to be tabled in the Legislative Council urging for the duplication to be prioritised currently had 443 signatures.

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