Bellbrae Primary School to get second supervised crossing

THE Surf Coast Shire has agreed to install a second pedestrian crossing near Bellbrae Primary School, but will only fund a supervisor there for the afterschool period.

The shire has been considering the matter since its August meeting, when pupils and parents from the school raised concerns about increased traffic levels on School Road and asked for a second crossing to be put in to the south, near the intersection of Cemetery and School roads.

Following that meeting, the shire ran a pedestrian count survey at that spot during both the morning and afternoon school times, which measured five children in the morning and 16 children after school.

The figures fall just short of the criteria needed to attract shared funding from the state government for a crossing. Peak vehicle movements of 330 vehicles per hour at drop-offs are more than three times higher than the minimum, but the number of children crossing the road fell below the minimum of 20.

In their report to councillors, who considered it at their January meeting, officers proposed providing a crossing supervisor for the afternoon pick up and continued monitoring of the location in the morning through the school year to confirm if crossing numbers increased to warrant a supervisor, and to seek VicRoads’ urgent support for the crossing.

Establishing the new supervised school crossing will result in an unexpected increase to the recurrent budget of $10,000 starting in the 2019-20 financial year.

Speaking at the January 22 meeting, Cr Martin Duke said the Bellbrae Primary School “really made a good presentation of why they wanted this” and he supported the recommendation, which was passed unanimously.

“It’s about protecting our children… it’s also about understanding what’s going to be happening up in that area with the school development happening this year. We need to look at all aspects of the safety of our children getting there.”