2018-02-22
My constituency question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. It concerns a new light sequence at the left turn from Alexandra Avenue into Swan Street at the pedestrian crossing, heading west. My constituent travels along Linlithgow Avenue, turns right into Alexandra Avenue and heads straight towards Punt Road a few times a week, and she stated to me that the number of people that are running the new left red arrow into Swan Street is absolutely insane. My constituent agrees it should be there but is concerned that nobody notices it. My constituent went on to say that she has also been a pedestrian at that crossing and has experienced it from a pedestrian point of view and that people are not noticing the red light and putting pedestrians at risk. She thinks people do not do that deliberately. The question is: will the minister have a look at this crossing and make sure that it is reassessed for safety?
ANSWER on 1 May 2018:
VicRoads has advised it is aware of the concerns raised and following its investigations has taken immediate action to implement temporary solutions at this location and is now working towards a permanent solution.
In the temporary case, the following changes have already been implemented to make the crossing safer:
– Amended the line marking to make the stop lines more visible
– Modified the pedestrian crossing lines to dashes
– Removed the central lane lines between the pedestrian crossing and the stop lines
– Moved the stop line further west
– Installed temporary traffic island barriers with additional signage
– Repositioned the lanterns on signals
– Installed additional signage on the signal poles for vehicles to stop at red lights
– Removed the gawk screens in area to increase sight distance
The proposed changes which are currently being assessed for the permanent case include:
– A new traffic signal arrangement
– Changing locations of traffic signals
– Altering the location of traffic islands
– Changing traffic lantern types