Is a central pedestrian refuge enough?

This is the latest from Kingston Council:

There was initial consultation on installing a pedestrian crossing in with flashing lights which VicRoads supported in principle, although it did not strictly meet the VicRoads warrants. Following community consultation, the directly affected resident objected as they felt the lights would impact on their amenity with light from the flashing light, noise from cars braking and starting, and loss of parking. Residents also objected to a zebra crossing with flashing lights near Bertrand/Thames intersection. We considered a zebra crossing without flashing lights, however given the volume and speed of the road (ie. the pedestrian crossing volume crossing the road is low and under 10 people crossing per hour based on previous survey) a zebra crossing would not be supported by VicRoads under their guidelines. An alternative concept design for a staged crossing, using a central pedestrian refuge, was developed. An information bulletin was sent out to residents last week and no objections have been received to date. It is the intention to proceed with this treatment.

The bulletin is available on our website, link to the Traffic and Transport bulletins below.

https://www.kingston.vic.gov.au/Services/Roads-and-Traffic/Traffic-Transport-Management/Traffic-Treatment-Information-Bulletins

We are also in the process of reducing the speed limit on Thames Prom to 50km/h.