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Dandenong\u2019s mayor claims the Victorian government has ignored urgent calls for a pedestrian crossing at a busy intersection where a toddler was fatally hit by a car at the weekend.<\/p>\n
The two-year-old boy was hit while with his family on Stud Road, next to the Dandenong Stadium in Melbourne\u2019s south-east, at midday on Sunday and died at the scene. Police believe it was a tragic accident, but are still investigating the circumstances.<\/p>\n
He was the sixth person to die on Stud Road in Greater Dandenong in 10 years, according to the Transport Accident Commission.<\/p>\n
Greater Dandenong Mayor Lana Formosa said the council had called \u201cfor many years\u201d for a pedestrian crossing to be installed where the fatal collision happened, out of fears for pedestrians\u2019 safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been calling for a safer pedestrian crossing here for many years, but we don\u2019t feel the state government has shared our sense of urgency,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got on council because of this issue and the fact that this has happened, it\u2019s not fair and it\u2019s not good enough. It\u2019s a death trap for pedestrians.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the Allan government had failed to fund a planned pedestrian crossing and install traffic lights at the intersection at McFees and Stud roads, which had been designed by the council and the Department of Transport and Planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been shovel-ready since 2020,\u201d she said. \u201cThat road hasn\u2019t been touched for decades \u2026 Our community has been screaming for this for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n
In September, Greater Dandenong\u2019s previous mayor, Eden Foster, wrote to Minister for Roads Melissa Horne about the planned crossing.<\/p>\n
In Horne\u2019s reply, seen by The Age<\/em>, the minister acknowledged the council\u2019s request for a pedestrian crossing and that planning for it had concluded.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you are aware, Stud Road near the Dandenong Stadium has been identified by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) for improvement and the Victorian Government has funded planning work to identify options to improve connections for pedestrians and other road users,\u201d Horne wrote in the letter on October 23.<\/p>\n But the minister said the crossing would be subject to \u201cfunding and will be assessed and prioritised based on consideration of the government\u2019s priorities on a statewide basis\u201d.<\/p>\n In the initial letter to the government in September, Foster said funding for the crossing was \u201curgently required and long overdue\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a history of serious accidents on this section of Stud Road, including a pedestrian Foster said pedestrians crossed there because they could not access the stadium or playground without walking 850 metres to the nearest crossing point and then another 850 metres back along a section with no footpath.<\/p>\n Formoso said she has also asked for the speed limit to be reduced from 80 km\/h.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a residential area. Twenty thousand kids are using the sports facility every week. You\u2019ve got a reserve, a park, wetlands and one of the most active bike paths and no way of crossing the road,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Dandenong Star Journal<\/em> reported that City of Greater Dandenong engineering director Paul Kearsley told a council meeting in March that a safe crossing at Stud Road near the stadium was its number one priority.<\/p>\n
fatality in 2018,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n