Passenger safety in focus

Three bus stops in the vicinity of Wehl Street, Mount Gambier, will be converted into bus zones to remedy safety and accessibility concerns.

Following a council investigation, it was found existing bus stops at Wehl Street South – Edward Street intersection, Wehl Street South – Shepherdson Road intersection (across from Reidy Park Primary School) and William Street – Bertha Street intersection do not currently provide a designated bus zone to allow buses to safely pull over to collect passengers at existing locations.

City of Mount Gambier General Inspectorate Team Leader Derek Ferguson said this means that other vehicles can park in the bus stop areas at any stage and prevent bus access at these points.

To address the issue, designated bus zones will be installed at Wehl Street South (near the Edward Street intersection) and William Street (near the Bertha Street intersection).

The existing bus stop near Reidy Park Primary School be relocated further from the Wehl Street South and Shepherdson Road intersection.

“This will improve safety as the intersection can be extremely busy during school drop off and pick up times. This will restrict other vehicles from parking in these areas between 8.30am and 5pm,” Mr Ferguson said.

Signage and line marking will be installed to highlight the bus zones and ensure compliance with relevant regulations and standards.

In addition, council has started an audit on all existing public bus stops within the city of Mount Gambier to assess compliance and accessibility.

“Council meets with bus service provider LinkSA and representatives from Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT), to proactively discuss and make ongoing improvements to city bus services,” Mr Ferguson said.

“We are currently investigating the installation of a bus stop adjacent to Foodbank, how to improve accessibility at Mount Gambier Marketplace shopping centre and the possibility of improving direct access to bus services to the Mount Gambier Hospital.”

A consolidated report of the findings will be presented to council later this year. At the August Council meeting, Council also resolved to install no parking zones on both sides of Blackwood Street from 7.30am to 9.30am and 2.30pm to 4pm, and install a 15-minute parking zone on the northern side of the street.

“The installation of no parking zones during these times is expected to help improve safety, visibility and congestion in the area and reduce the risk of collisions,” Mr Ferguson said. “The installation of a 15 minute only parking zone will also make it more convenient for drop off and pick up of customers at Dream to Create.”