Concern: Mooroopna North Primary School principal Michelle Duke and Year 1 student Zachary Astosic are not impressed with the dangerous speed zones.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Milk trucks and motorbikes travelling at 100km/h rumble and roar past a school set in rural surrounds.
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Vehicles rarely slow down as they pass Mooroopna North Primary School, and principal Michelle Duke is tired of stressing about the safety risk posed to her students.
A parent of the school reached out to the News, sharing concerns regarding speed during pick-up and drop-off times, saying that the 60km/h limit isn’t low enough.
Ms Duke has similar concerns, and is calling for council to rethink its assessment of the road.
“The road’s quite deceptive because it looks like a quiet country road, but it’s actually a main through road for a lot of the school bus routes and also for farming,” Ms Duke said.
“60km/h for drop-off and pick-ups is still too fast, but then it reverts back to 100km/h during the school day — the kids are still on site.
“The kids are still coming and going, or siblings, parents are coming and going; there’s still a lot of school activity with little people back and forth.
“It’s just not safe.”
Ms Duke says the concern is not only that 60km/h is too fast, but that drivers are not obeying that limit anyway, perhaps due to a lack of visibility, of both the school and speed signs.
“I think our kids are responsible and they know what they’re doing but the drivers who are on what looks like a quiet country road are not expecting a school to be here,” Ms Duke said.
“They’re not expecting children to potentially be crossing the road, so they’re not aware and they’re not looking out for young people, who can be unpredictable.”
Ms Duke wants council to lower speeds and increase sign visibility, to ensure the safety of students, guardians and motorists.
“It’s all about visibility, making the speed zones visible, lowering the speed zone,” she said.
“If we could have a 40km/h zone during the school pick-up and drop-off times, that would be ideal.”
Stop, look, listen, think: Year 2 student Bella Manzone, Year 3 student Jonathan Winn, Year 4 student Eliott Hall and Year 5 student Cody Smith carefully wait to cross what is often a busy road.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
When these concerns were taken to council, it defended the speed limits, pointing out they lined up with VicRoads’ speed zoning technical guidelines.
However, a council spokesperson said it would be able to assist the school in areas of reassessment and visibility of signage.
“Council have checked the visibility of the signs around the school and all are visible except for one ‘60 ahead’ sign, which is blocked by a small tree,” the spokesperson said.
“Council officers will have the tree trimmed to rectify the issue.”
When addressing concerns the school had, it was raised that Ardmona Primary School, which is similar in location, has flashing LED signs and a 40km/h zone during pick-up and drop-off.
The council spokesperson acknowledged this, and said both locations would soon be reassessed.
“Council have not completed any traffic counts near either school recently; however, council officers will arrange for this be completed after the school holidays in July 2023,” the spokesperson said.
“Council will review the requirement for LED signs based on the updated traffic volumes, as these signs are currently not warranted under the VicRoads guidelines due to the previous traffic volumes, which have been recorded at this location.
“There are other static signs which can be implemented in the area, which council will investigate.”
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