Kooweerup Bypass now: Traffic chaos in Station Street at school pick-up time. 27721By Melissa Grant
FRUSTRATED parents have resorted to driving through Kooweerup’s side streets to avoid traffic snarls along Station Street at school pick-up time.
And elderly drivers are avoiding travelling into town altogether in the afternoon as heavy trucks cause traffic chaos in Kooweerup.
The traffic quickly banks up as they wait to turn from Station Street into Rossiter Road.
St John the Baptist Primary School principal Simon Dell’Oro said some parents were “detouring” the town, driving down side streets to get to schools.
Mr Dell’Oro said traffic in and around Kooweerup had increased dramatically since the opening of the Pakenham Bypass.
“It’s very noticeable at the end of the day with parents trying to get in and out of the school,” he said.
Lisa Van Dord, who has three children at St John’s the Baptist Primary School, said it was a struggle to get out of Moody Street at 3.30pm as traffic on Rossiter Road sometimes banked back to Salmon Street.
Mrs Van Dord said many people avoided shopping at that time.
“It’s a nightmare to go to the shops at school pick-up time, you can’t get out of the parallel parks,” she said.
Port Ward councillor Stuart Halligan said many locals were avoiding the town during peak traffic periods.
“A lot of the residents are worried and a lot of the elderly aren’t coming out between 3 and 5 because it’s too much traffic for them to negotiate,” he said.
Mr Dell’Oro said a Kooweerup Bypass was needed to make the town safer.
“If a bypass went through it would make things a lot easier for the children getting to school,” he said.
Mrs Van Dord agreed that there was a desperate need for a Kooweerup Bypass.
“It’s very important for safety. I know it will take business away from the shops but it’s the lesser of two evils,” she said.
Government funding is yet to be secured for the Kooweerup Bypass project, despite VicRoads drawing up two proposed routes almost two years ago.
