MOST locals agree that “something” needs to be done to improve pedestrian safety on Dora Street, in Morisset.
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It’s just that opinion is split on what, exactly, should or could be done.
Correspondents to this newspaper have advocated everything from a traffic bypass of the township, to a reduced speed limit and parking bans near the crossing.
Others have called on pedestrians and motorists to simply be more responsible in observing the existing rules.
Roads and Maritime Services announced this week that work had started on the installation of traffic lights to replace the zebra pedestrian crossing outside Morisset train station.
It will be the third set of traffic lights installed on the main shopping strip in a 300-metre section stretching from the Woolworths supermarket to the police station.
An RMS spokesperson said in the five years to June 2015, there had been six recorded crashes in this area and three of the crashes resulted in injury.
Two of the crashes also involved a pedestrian.
Marlene Antcliffe works in the Bottlemart bottleshop which looks out directly onto the crossing.
“It is a dangerous crossing, and we’re constantly hearing screeching tyres,” Ms Antcliffe said.
The near misses included people who slipped and fell after taking evasive action. Others weren’t so lucky.
Ms Antcliffe said she could recall about five incidents in which pedestrians had been struck by cars during her 14 years on the job.
“There was one about 18 months ago. A young boy who’d got off the train stepped out onto the crossing and was hit by the side of a car and knocked down.”
She said jaywalking was a problem on the street.
“People will jaywalk literally five metres from the crossing.”
The new traffic lights had the potential to add to the traffic bottleneck in the town, she said.
“From 3pm to 6pm the traffic is sometimes backed up from here right back to the freeway [M1 Pacific Motorway] exit.”
Another retail worker, who asked not to be named, said the morning sun posed a visibility hazard for motorists as they approached the crossing.
“But the crossing is in the right spot. It’s right across from the train station,” they said.
Work on the new traffic lights will require lane closures and a reduced speed limit. Motorists are urged to be patient, and to drive to the conditions, an RMS spokesperson said.
The state government had provided $500,000 for the work, as part of the Walking Communities Program, to improve pedestrian connections, the spokesperson said.
