Wednesday, 19 March 2025

 Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (14:53): (1059) My constituency question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. How can the Department of Transport and Planning, VicRoads, Victoria Police and Merri-bek council work together to help make the Bell Street, Elm Grove and Urquhart Street corridor safer for the families of Coburg Primary School? On 18 February the school council president Jacob Kantor and the vice-president Emma Burrows wrote to me to raise concerns in relation to road safety. The school’s split system situation over both sides of the extremely busy Bell Street corridor creates unique challenges, with students required to cross several dangerous intersections, particularly on Bell Street, multiple times a day. Recent incidents have highlighted the critical nature of these safety concerns, and the school continues to witness far too many near misses, with vehicles regularly running red lights and speeding through school zones. The situation is particularly concerning given over 50 per cent of students walk or cycle to school and teaching staff must personally escort students between the campuses during the school hours. With Bell Street carrying over 44,000 commuters daily and 25 crashes recorded since 2018 resulting in 30 injuries, I strongly support the school’s call for a comprehensive safety review of the area, provision of appropriate state and local government resourcing for safety improvements and consideration of additional measures along the corridor.