Wednesday, 4 August 2021

South-West Coast electorate school crossings

Ms BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (09:54): This morning I want to congratulate Donna Monaghan of Warrnambool and show my support for her campaign to ensure schoolchildren have a safe passage to school across the busy Raglan Parade in West Warrnambool. At the moment there is no safe location for school students to cross Raglan Parade. There is no supervised crossing and no school zone. It is a stretch of road where the speed limit is 60 kilometres an hour and is a busy main thoroughfare through Warrnambool.

The intersection of Ardlie Street, Hider Street and Raglan Parade is notoriously dangerous, along with the intersection of Fitzroy and Botanic roads a bit further along. These are issues I have raised with both the minister and the Warrnambool City Council. In terms of Hider Street and Ardlie Street, the department has subsequently indicated it would support the implementation of a school zone along Raglan Parade if Warrnambool City Council installed a supervised crossing in that area. The Minister for Roads and Road Safety has advised that the department is working with Warrnambool City Council on issues at Fitzroy Road. Well done, Donna, and I look forward to helping you secure a positive outcome.

I also call on the minister to work with me to ensure students at Koroit and District Primary School have a safe passage to school and to help secure a new supervised or signalised crossing in the area of Commercial Road and High Street. This has been a long-running issue in the school community, who have been working with the Moyne shire but are being held up by VicRoads. Commercial Road is a busy thoroughfare for milk tankers getting to and from the milk factory, and there are a number of options on the table that need the support of the department. I am again committed to working with the school community to ensure students have a safe passage to school, and I ask the minister to join me in this commitment.