Reducing a block of Warrnambool’s Queen’s Road to one-way traffic is among a number of options being considered to improve safety near one of the city’s biggest schools.
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Warrnambool City Council has revealed a series of suggestions need to be assessed to ease pedestrian and traffic safety issues near St Joesph’s Primary School.
The options include a new roundabout at Queens and Botanic roads with “wombat” crossings and islands, a new “wombat” crossing mid-block in Queens Road between Jamieson Street and Botanic Road and possibly restricting traffic to one-way in Queens Road between Jamieson Street and Botanic Road.
Those options will be assessed through a traffic management plan, which is estimated to cost $30,000, but with no funds available this year, it will be considered in the council’s next budget process in the new year.
The possible changes come after the school in August began a campaign for improved pedestrian and student safety around the busy Botanic and Queens roads.
Principal Michael Gray said the council’s response was positive.
“We understand that these things take time so for us the positive is they’ve acknowledged it’s a precinct issue not just one child crossing,” Mr Gray said. “It’s the start to a solution by involving the experts.
“This is the gateway for three major schools. It is also the area in which visitors to the gardens and the pool intercept during daytime hours. Botanic Road is a feeder road to get to north Warrnambool and west as well. Locals would rather do that than drive along Princes Highway.”
Mr Gray said up to half the school’s 580 students used Queens or Botanic roads and while most drivers stopped for children crossing roads, there were safety issues.
Mr Gray, school principal for 21 years, said student numbers had grown considerably in the area.
“Warrnambool Primary has grown and so has Emmanuel but it’s exactly the same infrastructure as 20 years ago,” he said.
“Access and use of the gardens has also significantly grown, and in that time, AquaZone was built.”
VicRoads crash stat data showed three accidents were recorded over the past five years at the corner of Botanic and Queens roads, including two involving car and cyclist collisions.
Council traffic data collected in September recorded 50 pedestrians per hour crossing Queens Road South, 275 vehicles per hour at the Queens Road roundabout side and 474 vehicles per hour at the Botanic Road roundabout during school drop-off and pick-up times.
