State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell is renewing calls for safety upgrades to the Kialla West Primary School crossing after Tuesday, September 10 marked six years without major investment.
The dangerous crossing was brought to the Victorian Government’s attention in 2018, following a traffic collision that seriously injured a mother and her three daughters.
The government, through Regional Roads Victoria, tendered a consultant on the project in 2020, two years after the collision.
Towards the end of 2021, the school was alerted to delays in the process, due to a need to investigate the potential impact of the project on the nearby avenue of honour trees.
In November of 2021, Ms Lovell brought the matter to parliament again, expressing frustration on behalf of the community about the delays.
In response, Roads and Road Safety Minister Ben Carroll blamed COVID-19 restrictions as the reason for delays to the field assessments needed before presenting the design to Heritage Victoria.
They advised that “immediate safety improvements were implemented”, including “variable electronic speed signs, and line markings to provide better delineation of the school crossing”, and said that now that restrictions were lifted, the field assessments would proceed as planned.
Ms Lovell renewed calls in August of 2024, after a concerned parent of a student at the school contacted her office to say the minimal safety measures in place at the crossing were insufficient.
As a new kindergarten is due to open on the school site in term one of 2026, which will increase student numbers and car traffic along the highway, a safer crossing is more important than ever before.
In 2022, the Liberals promised $2 million to build a pedestrian underpass if elected.
Labor was returned to government, and the need for safety improvements at the crossing remains unaddressed.
Additionally, the Shepparton bypass, which would direct trucks away from the school, is unlikely to go ahead, meaning heavy freight traffic will continue to pass outside the school for the foreseeable future.
Ms Lovell said that September 10 would be a reminder that six years after the collision, Labor had made no significant safety improvements at the school crossing.
“Six years is far too long to wait for safety improvements at this primary school crossing,” she said.
“The Labor government must invest in either a pedestrian underpass or other major safety upgrades to separate students from highway traffic, and it should be done before the new kinder opens and traffic booms.”