By Tate Papworth
Albion residents will continue to campaign for traffic lights at a dangerous section of Ballarat Road.
The residents claimed a partial victory last week when the state government announced it would lower the speed limit between McIntyre Road and Glencairn Avenue to 70km/h from 80km/h, while new line marking will also be installed at high-risk locations along Ballarat Road between Adelaide Street and Holt Street.
The reduction follows a two-year campaign, led by the Albion Action Group and residents of Federation Residential Village.
Last Thursday Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC Jaala Pulford announced the safety improvements, saying that community sentiment had won out.
“We heard loud and clear that something needed to be done to make Ballarat Road safer and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” she said.
However those that have lobbied for change say it’s not enough.
Federation Residential Village is on a notorious stretch of road and village chairperson David Richardson said traffic lights were needed.
“This is the third best option – the first would be traffic lights, the second would have been a reduction to 60km/h, and this was the third … the fourth option would be to do nothing at all,” he said.
The Albion Action group has also pushed for lights to be installed, notably at the Perth Avenue and Ballarat intersection.
Albion Action group president Dinesh Jayasuriya welcomed the speed reduction, but agreed more needed to be done.
“We want it even lower, but 70 is better than 80,” Mr Jayasuriya said.
“We’re talking about crossing six lanes – if you’re an elderly person, would you be able to cross those lanes with cars coming at 70km/h? Probably not.
“We still need traffic lights.”
