By JESSE GRAHAM
A MOUNT Evelyn business is campaigning for a dangerous road crossing used by disabled residents every day to be replaced before disaster strikes.
Yarra View Nursery disability manager Karen Dettman is campaigning with the Yarra Ranges Council for a pedestrian-operated set of traffic lights to be installed on York Road at the site of a school crossing.
Every day, dozens of workers at the nursery use the school crossing on York Road in Mount Evelyn, to get to and from work from public transport.
During school terms, some of these workers who have cognitive disabilities are ferried across the road by crossing supervisors, though many arrive at and leave work outside of the crossing times, leaving them to navigate the busy road alone.
A study conducted by CDM Research for Yarra Ranges Council found that 1000 cars travel along the road per hour, with an average gap of 3.3 seconds between vehicles on the seven-metre wide road.
Despite VicRoads lowering the speed limit on York Road from 70km/h to 60km/h in June last year, Ms Dettman said the crossing wasn’t safe in its current form, and that she was pushing for the crossing to be replaced and upgraded with pedestrian-operated traffic lights.
Ms Dettman said the crossing was difficult for even able-bodied people, and that many employees often became trapped on a traffic island in the middle of the road, or were at risk of an accident.
“Now winter is coming on and it’s dark, their cognitive perception of speed and distance is not really all that good,” she said.
“So where they think they’re going to get across the road in the 3.3 seconds they’ve got to do it, they can make mistakes.”
According to Ms Dettman, there have been four near-misses on the road to date, and staff members come out to help their disabled co-workers cross the road.
“This all impedes on their dignity and their right to come to work safely,” she said.
Without the lights, Ms Dettman said it was just a matter of time before an accident occurred.
“I guess, we’ve got to wait for someone to get killed or terribly injured before they say, ’we should have our lights there’,” she said.
“If I see an ambulance going up the road, I think ‘keep going, keep going’.
“I don’t want to see any of our families have the heartache of losing somebody.”
The council posted on its website last month that it was seeking funding from VicRoads to replace the crossing.
Yarra Ranges Council’s Director of Environment and Engineering Mark Varmalis said a new crossing could cost between $300,000 and $500,000, depending on the extent of the works.
He said council was not satisfied that dropping the speed limit had done enough to keep residents safe on the notorious crossing.
“Lowering the speed limit is a valid road safety measure,” he said.
“In this instance, council does not consider lowering the speed limit has overcome the safety concerns for pedestrians.”
According to VicRoads, there have been five reported crashes resulting in injuries along the stretch of York Road between Swansea Road and Iverness Road in the five years before 31 June 2014, but none of these involved pedestrians.
VicRoads’ Metro South East Regional Director Aidan McGann said he was aware of the campaign to have the crossing replaced, and that each request was prioritised for funding, based on the respective need for pedestrians.
“This may include school children, the elderly or people with disabilities,” he said.
“We have evaluated the need for pedestrian-operated signals at this location and a proposal has been developed for future funding consideration against state-wide priorities.”
The Mail contacted the office of Monbulk MP and Deputy Premier James Merlino and received a near-identical response.
The council said the outcome of the proposal would be known later in the year.
