Tara Murray
Albion residents will be able to cross Ballarat Road safely with the announcement of a long-awaited upgrade to the intersection of Ballarat Road and Hulett Street.
Residents who live near the intersection have been calling for traffic lights to be installed for the past five years, after a number of people were hit by cars while trying to cross the road.
The speed limit has previously been decreased on that section of Ballarat Road, but calls for the installation of traffic lights had continued.
The state and federal governments have announced they will invest $8 million into delivering a safer intersection as part of a targeted road safety works program.
There will also be raised safety platforms on Ballarat Road at the approach to the intersection, encouraging drivers to slow down as they pass through the intersection.
The funding is as a big win for residents of Federation Residential Village who have been lobbying for lights to be installed.
Village chairperson David Richardson said they were thrilled to finally get lights at the intersection.
Mr Richardson said that since a resident was hit by a car while crossing the road in 2016, resulting in him being left in a wheelchair, residents had been too scared to try and cross the road.
He said there were probably only a handful of residents that would attempt to cross the road, which is six lanes in total.
“Residents have nine different directional flows of traffic to consider when they are trying to cross that road,” he said.
“We have some people who will catch the bus outside the village and will head towards Deer Park, even though they want to go to Sunshine.
“They hop off further up and walk across the road where there are lights and then catch the bus to Sunshine.”
