Thursday, 5 March 2020

Pascoe Vale electorate road safety

Ms BLANDTHORN (Pascoe Vale) (17:10): (2023) My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Minister for Roads in the other place, and the action I seek is that the minister accompany me on a visit to Pascoe Vale to inspect and discuss local road safety matters. In particular I would like the minister to visit Sydney Road in Coburg alongside the Mercy College. This is a particularly nasty bend of the road, which the tram also follows, in front of the school, and there have been a number of accidents, including one quite serious accident, in recent times as cars take this bend way too quickly. Students at the school have written to me to express their concern about road safety in this area, as have parents and teachers at the school, and I would like the minister to come and meet with them and discuss their issues as well as coming and looking at Gaffney Street between Cumberland Road and the Pascoe Vale station.

This is a fairly long stretch of road that includes a very significant hill. Anyone local who walks up that hill will tell you exactly how significant that hill is; it is very steep. But there are a number of bus stops along that route and a primary school as well, and yet there is no point for crossing safely between Cumberland Road and the Pascoe Vale station over such a long stretch. As such, people are darting across busy Gaffney Street on a daily basis, several times a day. I live just near there myself and constantly see people ducking across the road because they cannot get a break in the traffic and it is too far to walk down to the Pascoe Vale station or up to Cumberland Road to cross. There have also been some near misses in terms of schoolchildren crossing the road there. I would very much appreciate it if the minister could accompany me to discuss road safety issues in Pascoe Vale.