A memorial at St Alban’s notorious Main Road level crossing will be a permanent reminder of the 16 lives lost, according to one victim’s mother.
Dianne Dejanovic, whose son Christian died in 2012 when he was struck by a train, said the community’s 40 year battle to have the deadly crossing removed had come at a “huge cost”.
“I want something there to acknowledge how many people lost their lives – and how hard the community of St Albans tried for 40 years to have this deadly crossing removed,” Ms Dejanovic said.
“We need to remember the 16 lives lost. My son was killed trying to save a child.
“It’s come at a huge cost … a cost that myself and all those other families will never be able to overcome.”
St Albans MP Natalie Suleyman said in State Parliament on Tuesday there would be a memorial plaque and garden to honour the lives “tragically lost” at both the Main Road level crossing and the Furlong Road crossing in Sunshine where three people died in 2004.
Both crossings are part of the statewide level crossing removal program.
Ms Dejanovic is part of a stakeholder liaison group that has been involved in discussions on how to honour those killed at the crossings.
‘Unfortunate history’
Parliamentary secretary for transport Shaun Leane told a public infrastructure inquiry on May 4 that the community had sought “some sort of marker” to reflect the crossing’s “unfortunate history”.
At the time, Level Crossing Removal Authority chief executive Kevin Devlin told the inquiry it would consult “about an appropriate recognition of the history of those sites, whether that be community art or some sort of opportunity to provide a reminder of its history”.
He said the authority would look to families of people killed at the crossing “to be part of that”.
Mr Devlin said works at St Albans were “progressing well”.
He said the crossing was expected to be removed by January and work at the station to be completed by the middle of next year.
