Ferntree Gully Village traders Philip, Tina, Donna and Anthony and Yooralla First Base attendee John are calling for a safe place to cross busy Station Street. 34280
By Casey Neill
FERNTREE Gully Village traders and shoppers are calling for a crossing in busy Station Street, following several brushes with death.
Dobson Ward councillor Sue McMillan last Tuesday (28 July) presented a 192-signature petition to Knox Council on their behalf.
Cr McMillan asked council officers to consider the submission when completing a master plan to revitalise the area, which is currently underway.
Petition organiser and store owner Donna Price recalled a near miss involving a truck about six months ago.
“I thought he would slow down but he didn’t, so I fell down on the road,” she said.
Other traders said similar incidents were common and are calling for a zebra crossing to make motorists more aware of pedestrians crossing the street.
They collected almost 200 signatures supporting the request in just one week.
Trader Anthony Herrod said the need for the crossing was quite simple.
“We’ve got people in wheelchairs, we’ve got elderly, we’ve got a major bus station,” he said.
“It’s a necessity for them. It’s just sheer safety.”
Ms Price said children were also at risk.
“With the school kids, from 3 o’clock onwards it’s just chockers,” she said.
“And they just run across the road.”
Ms Price said when she told a council representative about her close call they told her to use the traffic lights about 100 metres away.
But Ms Price said people in wheelchairs and the elderly struggled to cross the road at the lights before they changed.
Clock and watch restorer Philip Gore said he regularly watched motorists speed along the shopping strip narrowly avoid ‘spinning out’ completing U-turns near his store.
Mr Gore said a new Station Street supermarket opposite the bus and train station made a safe crossing point even more vital.
“There’s going to be more people wanting to cross over from the train station,” he said.
“That’s going to increase the traffic trying to get over here by a hundred-fold.”
Mr Herrod was concerned including the crossing within the master plan may take money away from planned improvements.
“It’s a necessity, rather than an improvement,” he said.
Ms Price agreed.
“It’s something that should have been here already,” she said.
