Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Joseph Road precinct, Footscray

Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (17:45): (925) My adjournment today is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and my ask is for the government to take an active role in the works currently taking place to make the Joseph Road precinct in Footscray safer. Despite new developments bringing hundreds of people to this precinct in the city’s growing west, little care has gone into protecting the safety and wellbeing of those that live, work and commute around this area. Joseph Road is notorious for its lack of safe crossings and needlessly high speed limits. It is these issues that tragically led to the death of a young woman, Frances Jeyann Ramirez, last year and that put at risk the wellbeing of community members on a regular basis. Community groups have tirelessly campaigned for authorities to take meaningful action, and finally some progress is being made, with the City of Maribyrnong council commencing works to improve pedestrian safety around Joseph Road. However, these works will not be finalised until December, and it is unclear whether the works will resolve all of the outstanding safety issues.

On a previous occasion I asked the state government to take a role in coordinating and funding the appropriate works to make the Joseph Road precinct safe. Your response, Minister, was to handball responsibility for the works to Maribyrnong City Council. The poor planning of this area is a direct result of the planning approvals made by then Minister for Planning Matthew Guy. That is why it is incumbent on the state government to intervene and fix the problems of its own level of government’s making. Minister, this is why I am asking the state government to actively collaborate with local authorities and to support them, including financially, to undertake the full gamut of upgrade works required to make Joseph Road safe. This includes installing traffic lights at the Hallenstein Street–Moreland Street–Hopkins Street intersection, establishing active transport links and updating pathways along Hopkins Street in response to the urgent concerns raised by residents.