Slow them down

By Lia Bichel
A Berwick couple involved in two collisions in one year is urging council to implement safe traffic controls on a busy residential street.
Bronwyn Sugden and her husband Paul live on Lyall Road and said the vicinity’s traffic congestion, poor visibility around a bend, few road signs, and a 60km/h speed limit were causes for concern.
A year ago, Mrs and Mr Sugden were travelling southbound on Lyall Road when a car turning north from Peel Street collided with them. The car was carrying four children, including a special needs child.
Fortunately, everyone escaped injury, but Mrs Sugden said this was a common occurrence.
“People get caught trying to turn right onto Lyall Road,” she said. “I think it needs to be a left turn only from Peel Street to Lyall Road.”
A month ago, Mrs and Mr Sugden’s vehicle was involved in a second collision.
“Someone flew around the corner, where two lanes turn into one, and wiped out my car which was sitting in the driveway,” she said.
Ms Sugden said she urged council to take appropriate steps to reduce the danger, but no changes had been made.
“I don’t think council has looked at the street when it is at its busiest. It’s just crazy when people are in a hurry to go home after work, or in the morning when the kids are trying to cross the street,” she said.
“Something needs to be done to slow drivers down. Maybe flashing lights, speed bumps, or the speed limit dropped to 40.”
City of Casey manager Transport Paul Hamilton said the section of Peel Street from Lyall Road through the Wheeler Street intersection had operated in its current configuration for many years, and the roadway had a number of traffic management controls including islands and medians, line marking and signage defining the traffic lanes and intersection controls.
“Provision is also made for pedestrians to stage their crossing of Peel Street using the medians as a pedestrian refuge,” he said. “As this section of the road network provides direct access to the Berwick Village commercial centre, it can be quite busy.”
He said that council officers were not aware of any particular operational issues that would require changes to traffic control in the area, but would re-inspect the area to ensure the traffic management controls were adequate.