THE ISSUE

We are proposing changes to Auburn road, specifically the intersection of Auburn road and Bowler/Urquhart street in order to create safer opportunities for pedestrians crossing this road.

As residents of this area we experience daily challenges in crossing Auburn road safely. Its a significantly busy road with over 5000 vehicles per day, a 60 km/h speed limit and no pedestrian crossings or pedestrian islands between Riversdale and Burwood road - this all contributes to a road that is nearly impossible to cross during peak hours without putting yourself at risk.

As an area with many families and dog owners, this poses a particular risk trying to cross the road with babies in strollers, children going to and from school or residents walking their dogs to and from Fritsch Holzer park. 

Not only is this a problem for pedestrians, but we have seen multiple vehicle accidents at the Auburn road and Bowler street intersection, due to the fast traffic and few opportunities to safely drive across or turn into Auburn road. 

THE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

We are urging the council to review the safety of this road by working with VicRoads to:

- decrease the speed limit to 40km/h

- introduce a pedestrian crossing or refuge islands along Auburn road between Riversdale road and Burwood road

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Please help by signing this petition and contributing with your personal account of your experience of this issue.

Help us make Auburn road safe for its surrounding residents and pedestrians! 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Below is the original response I received from the office of Cr Jack Wegman from Jim Hondrakis (Manager Traffic and Transport) on 30 October 2019. I have since contacted this office again as a follow up. 

“Dear Ms Paulsen

Thank you for your emails of 30 September and 13 October 2019, addressed to Cr Jack Wegman, regarding your safety concerns in Auburn Road at its intersection with Urquhart Street and Bowler Street, Hawthorn. Your correspondence has been referred to me for consideration and response.

Auburn Road is a declared main road and falls under the jurisdiction of VicRoads. The installation of pedestrian signals is subject to meeting VicRoads criteria and approval. Their criteria require that the volume of pedestrians crossing the road, within 20m of the proposed crossing location, to be in excess of 100 pedestrians and the number of vehicles which pedestrians have to cross, to exceed 500 vehicles per hour for an hour on an average day.  The pedestrian signals would be funded and installed by VicRoads.

Council officers have been advocating for pedestrian signals and pedestrian access improvements at the intersection for several years.

A number of traffic surveys and site observations were previously carried out at the intersection of Auburn Road and Bowler Street. Traffic and pedestrian counts were undertaken on Thursday 5 December 2013 on Auburn Road at the intersection of Urquhart Street and Bowler Street during morning (7am - 10am) and evening peak hours (4pm- 7pm). The results indicated that a total of 24 pedestrians crossed Auburn Road during the evening peak hour (4.30pm-5.30pm) at or in the vicinity of the intersection. As the installation of pedestrian signals at the intersection did not meet the VicRoads criteria, officers developed and submitted an application to VicRoads in 2014 for pedestrian refuge islands in Auburn Road at the intersection to allow pedestrians to stage their crossing. However, this proposal was also not supported by VicRoads due to concerns with the potential for rear-end crashes due to right turning traffic at this intersection, despite the proposal complying with standards.

Notwithstanding the above, Council officers are currently undertaking further investigations on the proposal and a revised application will be submitted to VicRoads for approval and funding.

In relation to your request for a reduced 40km/h speed limit along Auburn Road, I advise that speed limit signs are ‘Major Traffic Control Devices’ under the Road Safety (Traffic Management) Regulations 2009, and VicRoads approval is also required to erect, establish, display, maintain or remove such signs.

In accordance with VicRoads guidelines, a reduced speed limit of 40km/h may be considered in pedestrian activity areas where continuous and directly abutting retail development and/or other types of land uses along a strip shopping centre, for not less than 400m in length, generate frequent pedestrian movements across the road. In addition to shopping precincts, land uses that may also generate high levels of pedestrian movements include train stations, public transport interchanges, offices, hospitals, medical centres, restaurants, municipal offices, pre-schools and child minding centres.  It is for this reason that the 40 km/h speed limits are commonly located in strip shopping centres.

As the majority of land use along Auburn Road between Burwood Road and Riversdale Road is residential, the VicRoads criteria for a reduced speed limit of 40km/h are not met and therefore, unlikely to be supported by VicRoads.

Should you have any further queries in relation to the above, please contact Mr Bhushan Jani, Coordinator Transport Management on 9278 4518.

Yours sincerely

Jim Hondrakis 

Manager Traffic and Transport”