Kinglake West Primary renews calls for works to fix dangerous crossing
A student’s “sickening” near miss has sparked renewed calls to fix a dangerous crossing and pothole-riddled service lane outside a Kinglake primary school. And the fed up principal says the shocking incident has been one of many.
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Students at Kinglake West Primary are being forced to dodge past vehicles on a gravel service road, and then again on a main arterial where drivers travel at 80km/h.
The situation has seen several near misses including one incident where a truck nearly mowed down a crossing supervisor and children crossing the road.
Principal Mark Portman said the school was sick of being forgotten about after 10 years of campaigning to have the “absurd situation” fixed.
He said the crossing on Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd did not meet safety standards as it had no barriers preventing children running out onto the busy road.
Two traffic cones, supplied by the school, were the only obstacles stopping kids from darting across the service lane, he said.
“The service road is this terrible gravel road that just develops potholes every two weeks,” Mr Portman said.
“So you’ve got cars trying to navigate past these potholes, other cars backing out of the parking spaces and then these poor kids trying to cross the road and there isn’t even a crossing there — it’s sheer madness.”
Mr Portman said parking needed to be scrapped and the road repurposed as a drop-off zone.
“We’ve got 180 kids and 35 parking spots,” he said.
“Not to mention the traffic along the service road goes against traffic on the main road right next to it — it’s confusing for everyone.”
Crossing supervisor Robyn Sabjak told the Leader a student’s “sickening” near-miss this term had sparked renewed calls for safety upgrades outside the school.
She said she was crossing three boys one morning when disaster almost struck.
“One of the boys was lagging behind and initially there were no vehicles so I hurried him along, but then I heard a truck coming over the rise,” she said.
“I thought the driver would obviously be able to see me as I was in hi-vis and right in the middle of the road, so I wasn’t overly concerned.
“Just as the boy stepped out onto the road I realised the truck wasn’t slowing down, so I screamed at the boy to run, and once he ran past me I ran with him.”
Ms Sabjak said the truck had screeched to a halt right where she had been standing.
“I turned around to look at the boy and his face was just aghast,” she said.
“This crossing needs some sort of safety barrier — it’s had nothing for too long — and I don’t want to see another terrified child’s face like that again.”
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Ms Sabjak said at least one in every four vehicles would ignore the 40km/h school zone speed limit and speed through the crossing at 80km/h.
“Not only are our children in danger, but the workplace of our wonderful lollipop ladies is also threatened,” Mr Portman said.
“If nothing is done about this absurd situation, someone will be hurt or killed.”
VicRoads saidMurrindindi Council managed both Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd and the school’s service lane.
The council has been approached for comment.