Speed review among recommendations to make Victorian roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists
By Margaret PaulDrivers could be forced to slow to 30 kilometres per hour on more suburban streets, after a parliamentary inquiry made more than 50 recommendations to make roads safer for users, including pedestrians and cyclists.
The inquiry into the impact of road safety behaviours on vulnerable road users tabled its report in state parliament, full of reports from Victorians who said they did not feel safe around roads.
The same problems popped up again and again: footpaths that were too narrow or very close to roads, pedestrian crossings where the lights don't stay green long enough, and poor driver behaviour.
"Pedestrians said they feel vulnerable because their safety largely depends on drivers noticing them, abiding by road rules, giving way to them when turning, and stopping for them at intersections and crossings, while motorists are often concentrating on other motor vehicles instead," the report found.
"Pedestrians are fully exposed in the event of a collision and generally have less time to react if a vehicle makes an unexpected manoeuvre."
Data from the Transport Accident Commission found the number of pedestrians, passengers and motorbike riders who died on Victorian roads had all increased since before the pandemic, although the number of driver fatalities fell.
The committee found, while there's no formal research, there had been an anecdotal increase in driver aggression, risk-taking and inattention since the pandemic lockdowns.
The report called for a priority review of speed zones, especially around schools and shops, and for vulnerable users to be prioritised in future road and infrastructure design.
Calls to fix 'racetrack' near school in Coburg
Cate Hall has been lobbying for years to reduce the speed limit on Coburg's Murray Road.
The busy stretch of road, in Melbourne's north, runs between new homes and shops at the former Pentridge Prison, Coburg Lake and Merri Creek, as well as the nearby swimming pool and high school.
She said walking along the footpath was "really scary", as pedestrians are very close to 60kph traffic.
"You can feel the wind of the trucks in your hair as they go past," she said.
Data from the Merri-bek council found the road carried an average of about 20,000 vehicles a day, with more than quarter travelling faster than the 60kph speed limit.
"We've always said it had a racetrack vibe, and now we know — the data backs that up."
She hoped the inquiry would lead to a speed reduction along Murray Road, but also called for wider footpaths, separated bike lanes and more crossings.
Walkers in outer suburbs face other challenges
In Pakenham, in Melbourne's outer south-east, some residents feel so unsafe walking that they opt to drive instead.
As the ABC reported in 2022, much of the route to a local primary school goes along the busy Princes Highway, and there is no footpath.
Jessi Barnard has two children, and said, since 2022, nothing has changed to make the roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists getting to school.
"It'd be nice to be able to walk safely to Coles, but it's just not safe," she said.
In Truganina, in the outer south-west, Labor MP Sarah Connolly has been lobbying her colleagues to improve safety on Leakes Road, a four-lane arterial road near the Truganina P-9 school.
Recently, mobile cameras and additional signs were introduced after the school community complained drivers were frequently running the red light or speeding, while children were crossing to get to school.
Victoria Walks chief executive Ben Rossiter said arterial roads were a big problem when it came to encouraging people to walk.
"About three-quarters of all serious pedestrian road trauma happens effectively on the major arterials," he said.
He welcomed the inquiry's report and said it was "now over to the government to respond".
"These issues are urgent so the government really needs to act."
He said there were two main obstacles to encouraging people to walk, especially along or crossing arterial roads: "bad road design and poor driver behaviour".
A spokesperson said the government welcomed the report and was considering the recommendations.