Malvern electorate
Michael O’BRIEN (Malvern) (14:32): (62) My constituency question is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and my question is: what assessment has been or will be made by the minister’s department of the danger posed by the operation of the pedestrian crossing on Toorak Road adjacent to the sky rail and the Monash Freeway entrance? The Toorak Road level crossing removal had two flaws. One was the decision to use sky rail rather than a rail-under-road option. The second was that no pedestrian underpass or overpass was put in place. Instead, a grade-level pedestrian crossing was installed across Toorak Road. I have received many reports of vehicles travelling through this crossing against the red light, and while the government belatedly put up a sign nearby, it has not solved the problem. Many children use this crossing to access the nearby sporting fields that are north of Toorak Road. My real worry is that it is only a matter of time until a pedestrian is seriously injured or worse as a result of the poor design of this crossing, and that is why I ask the minister to advise what assessment has been or will be made of this crossing’s danger.