State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell raised road safety outside the school in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, February 17, after a crash there during school pick-up time on February 10.
Speaking in parliament, Ms Lovell called on the Minister for Roads and Road Safety to expedite action to signalise the intersection, provide a pedestrian crossing and upgrade the drop-off and pick-up points.
“For over seven years I have been repeatedly calling for the government to take action to make significant road safety upgrades at the pedestrian crossing and intersection outside Kialla West Primary School,” Ms Lovell said.
“My advocacy on this issue began in 2018, when a car picking up children from school was hit by a truck at the school crossing, leaving a mother and three young students seriously injured.
“One of those students still suffers from the consequences of that accident today.”
When the Victorian Government announced in 2024 that it would build a co-located early learning centre at the primary school, to open in term one this year, Ms Lovell immediately warned the government that it would have to urgently upgrade the road infrastructure at the school in order to safely accommodate the increase in traffic.
Construction of this early learning centre has been delayed, which Ms Lovell said was a perfect window to fix the road issues before even more traffic was in the area.
Ms Lovell said she has raised safety issues at the school in parliament several times every year, but the government had failed to take any action to make things safer.
In the most recent crash, a driver had pulled out of Cemetery Lane next to the school and collided with a car on the Goulburn Valley Hwy.
“Thankfully no-one was injured, but this accident could have had horrific consequences,” Ms Lovell said.
The driver of that car contacted Ms Lovell, concerned about road safety around the school.
“The safety of students and parents at Kialla West Primary School cannot wait any longer,” Ms Lovell said.
“There is a high traffic flow around the school in the morning and afternoons, and though there are reduced speed limits, they are not always followed or enforced.
“Even cautious drivers can find themselves in a risky situation when pulling out from the side road or pick-up area because of speed, congestion and multiple points of entry and exit.
“Safety upgrades to the pedestrian crossing, pick-up points and the intersection with the side road are all desperately needed, but Labor is totally failing to show any urgency to solve this problem.”
The minister has 30 days to responded to Ms Lovell’s speech in parliament.
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