By Callum Ludwig
Healesville residents have launched a petition calling for a safe crossing area at the three-way intersection between Crowley Road, Lalors Road, Maroondah Highway, and Ayres Road, by the BP petrol station and convenience store.
Many school students cross in this area for the school bus stop and the nearest pedestrian crossing over one kilometre away in the opposite direction.
It is also situated right near Holmwood and Arrum aged care facilities, with locals saying the area is seeing both heavy foot and road traffic during peak times.
Concerned Healesville resident Eloise Wallace would like to see measures put in place to solve the dangerous issue.
“I would like to see a lower speed limit of 50km/h and a safe pedestrian crossing, whether it be on the corner or further down the road,” she said.
“We call it ‘Running the Gauntlet’ trying to get across.”
It is not the first time Healesville residents have tried to address the issue, with Maroondah Highway residents Brian Millane, Mike Grigg, and Barry Alloway contacting VicRoads in 2016 appealing for the 50km/h speed limit to be extended from the town centre.
Their application was rejected – a VicRoads response seen by Star Mail cited the low crash rates and the absence of schools or school crossings as the reason no change was needed.
VicRoads also believed that a lower speed limit would increase the risk of drivers speeding, and result in drivers intersecting roads or accesses misjudging the speed of oncoming vehicles, a sentiment supported by the Healesville Police at the time.
All three men are still present, campaigning 6 years on, and said that the Healesville township has changed and the road has only become more dangerous.
“The amount of traffic has vastly increased, even in the last three years, as the population has gone up as a township,” said Mr Millane.
“Another thing is that there’s going to be the McDonald’s development a few hundred metres down the road, which will increase traffic both ways.”
Residents compared their scenario to that of Yarra Junction and Warburton on the adjacent Warburton Highway, where speed limits entering the townships were permanently reduced from 60km/h to 50km/h in both towns in the past 10 years to great success, allowing users of the Lilydale-Warburton Trail to cross safely.
Healesville residents sent in another submission to Vicroads despite the disappointment of the last attempt for a crossing or reduction of the speed limit. This time VicRoads responded favourably in a report they prepared, supporting the implementation of a crossing and advising it will come down to funding from state and local governments.
There are currently no State Government plans for the intersection but it will continue to work with the Yarra Ranges Council for any safety measures required on Maroondah Highway.
“The Victorian Government’s Road Safety Action Plan focuses on the safety of all road users including vulnerable groups like young people, pedestrians and the elderly,” a government spokesperson said.
“We’re always looking at ways we can make it safer and easier for people to use our road network – we will continue to monitor the Maroondah Highway at the intersection of Crowley Rd, Ayres Rd and Lalors Rd.”
State Member for Eildon Cindy McLeish was contacted by the Healesville residents with a petition for the road safety upgrades and has lodged their concerns in parliament.
Ms McLeish said this is one of a number of road safety concerns in Healesville.
“We definitely need safe crossings for people. Healesville was getting busier and the roads are again, getting busier,” she said.
“There is the Badger Creek Rd and Wilsons St intersection as well. We’ve got to work out how to solve all of these traffic problems in Healesville.”
