Parents shouldn’t have to worry about their kids’ safety just walking to school – but right now, our roads are too dangerous. There have been some scary near-misses recently.
Our neighbourhoods have been designed for cars not people. It is time to turn it around.
Across Wills, parents are organising to demand safer streets for their kids but also for other community members who walk and ride around our community.
There are numerous places around the electorate that urgently need traffic calming measures such as 40 kilometre an hour zones, supervised school crossings and proper assessment and safety audit to identify other possible interventions, including:
- Bell Street corner Elm Grove near Coburg Primary School and further down Bell near Coburg College at corner of Elizabeth St;
- Coonans Road near Pascoe Vale South Primary School;
- Murray Rd
- Cumberland Rd;
- Gaffney St;
- Nicholson Streets.
The Greens are fighting for $3 million in federal funding to make our streets safer and will work with state and local governments to get it done.
Along with traffic calming measures the community is also crying out for more safe bike paths and accessible tram stops. The more people feel safe to ride around, the less cars there will be on the road. Sydney Road is one of the most dangerous roads in the state for cyclists. Protected bike lanes down Sydney Road are a must yet Labor refuses to act. There is also a need for more bike paths from Fawkner through Coburg down to Fitzroy North. The Greens will always champion cyclists.
Safe streets are also accessible streets and I am joining with the community to push for accessible tram stops on Sydney Road.
If just one in ten people change their vote, we can have more Greens in parliament and send a strong message that safe streets should be a priority – not an afterthought.