Riordan backs petition on Great Ocean Road pedestrian crossing

POLWARTH MP Richard Riordan is backing calls from Jan Juc and Bellbrae residents to create some kind of pedestrian crossing on the Great Ocean Road.

A petition, which had more than 270 signatures as of Wednesday this week, is urging state Parliament to ask on Vic Roads, the Department of Transport and Planning and Surf Coast Shire Council “to develop immediate engineering options for safe passage via a crossing and pathway infrastructure” at the Great Ocean Road’s intersection with the western end of Strathmore Drive in Jan Juc and the service road that leads to the Surf Coast campus of Christian College Geelong.

Mr Riordan is sponsoring the petition, and said the circumstances of the situation were unusual.

“One of the complexities that we have on the Great Ocean Road in particular is that right along the length of it, VicRoads is reluctant to put many traffic calming measures in.

“However, the Great Ocean Road goes through a whole bunch of our towns and communities, and by and large there’s a whole bunch of kids usually on one side of the road wanting to get to the beach, in most cases – this is one of the few examples where you’ve people living on one side, but they’re actually wanting to get to the essential kid service of the day, which is their education.”

He said the “grand vision” for access to the college campus had changed now that the Surf Coast Distinctive Area and Landscape policy had ruled out development in the Spring Creek valley.

“That now precipitates a change of thought about how they’re going to deal with it.

“It makes sense to get as many people as possible safely across that bit of road in the one spot.”

Christian College Geelong was prepared to pay for some of the necessary works but not all of them, Mr Riordan said, as the benefits would be shared by pupils going to and from Bellbrae Primary School further to the west.

He said he was frequently petitioned by communities asking for crossings to be installed on their particular section of the Great Ocean Road.

“It’s always quite a difficult task, right along the length, because by the time everyone gets their bit, you’ll never get down the Great Ocean Road. So I understand VicRoads’ inflexibilities there.

“However, this is just one of those more important exceptions.”

Jan Juc resident Myra White, who has a child enrolled at the college, said there was a definite need to create a crossing, and was particularly keen to see some kind of planning study of the possible options.

“There’s an appetite for something in the community,” she said.”We’re not sure if it [outside the college] is even the most appropriate place.”

Bellbrae Primary School parent Shauna Burford is part of the team that created the community vision for the Ridgeline Trail, which proposes a formal walking and cycling trail from Duffields Road in Torquay to Bellbrae Reserve.

She said this community vision should be part of any discussion by the various stakeholders about a crossing to create a unified solution for not only for students at the two schools but also the wider community.

To read the petition or sign it before October 26, head to new.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/petitions/great-ocean-road-crossing-in-jan-juc