Coronavirus testing: Traffic and safety concerns at 4cyte Pathology Donald St Croydon
They come from near and far to get tested for coronavirus. But locals living near a Croydon testing facility are worried they have more to fear than the virus.
Outer East
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Angry locals are calling for a Croydon coronavirus testing site to be moved claiming cars are blocking streets as people wait to be swabbed.
Donald St’s Olivia Kerr, 22, said an accident was inevitable if more safety measures weren’t installed at 4Cyte Pathology on the corner of Mount Dandenong Rd and her street.
Ms Kerr said she’d seen up to 40 cars banked up on Mount Dandenong Rd at its peak during the past three weeks.
She said traffic had also increased at the other end of her street on Hull Rd and as far back as Ruskin Ave.
“It’s terrible, its so hard to get out in the morning, I can’t see when I’m turning onto Mt Dandenong Rd and I feel like I’m going to have an accident,” she said.
“We have to go a whole different way, we can’t get out and it’s pretty stressful.
“I understand everyone has to get tested, but there has to be a safer spot.”
Ms Kerr said her mother had contacted police on multiple occasions with concerns about the site and the bank-up of traffic on the surrounding roads.
She said traffic management workers had begun operating at the site but she felt they had done little apart from installing signs.
Mooroolbark’s Jodie Del Monaco also emailed Maroondah Leader about the issue and claimed she saw 10 people almost get hit at a pedestrian crossing at the corner of Hewish Rd and Dorset Rd on Tuesday, July 29.
Ms Del Monaco said drivers were “getting through anyway they could” due to the long lines stemming from the testing site.
“The testing site is so dangerous and the line moves so slowly that people frequently get out of their cars to see what is happening, all on a major road,” she wrote.
Maroondah highway patrol Sergeant Michael Aston said police had received one direct complaint from a nearby business and had heard of others made to Maroondah Council.
Sgt Aston said he had asked the Department of Transport to investigate the matter further and a new traffic management plan was being developed.
“That site has been selected for COVID-19 testing, and we are trying to implement this plan in conjunction with the department and council to alleviate queuing as much as we can,” Sgt Aston said.
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