Bellbrae PS pushes for second pedestrian crossing

BELLBRAE Primary School pupils and parents have called on the Surf Coast Shire to do everything it can to have another pedestrian crossing installed on the road outside the school.

The primary’s school’s concerns about traffic levels on School Road dominated public question time at Tuesday’s council meeting, with the first eight questions dedicated to the subject.

Pupil Eva Leggett said the population of the school had now reached more than 500 pupils and was growing, and traffic at pick-up and drop-off times had increased as a result.

“We’re worried about the high risks and potentially severe consequences of an accident.”

She said the majority of children that attended the school lived in Jan Juc and were unable to walk to school so had to be driven or catch public transport, which only added to the problem.

The school council wants a second pedestrian crossing to be installed immediately to the south, closer to Cemetery Road.

In response to the questions, Surf Coast general manager of governance and infrastructure Anne Howard agreed that that the infrastructure outside the school was inadequate to servethe school’s growing population, but that although the shire was responsible for the road, it would have to investigate the matter further and consult with VicRoads before a second crossing could be built.

“This is slightly difficult to identify a single solution to.”

She said the shire would first measure traffic levels outside the school peak times, and the council was well aware of the problems, with the shire’s traffic and design engineers coincidentally at the site on Tuesday.