Templeman vents anger over Catalina Drive inaction

A motorcyclist was injured in the incident, prompting Mr Templeman to again speak out about safety concerns and plan to again raise the matter in parliament.

“I’m sick and tired of accidents at this intersection, we’ve had a number of them now and I can’t believe the government is turning a blind eye while they keep happening,” he said.

“I’ve raised grievances with the minister in parliament, and the latest response from him came just a few days ago, in which the problem was sidestepped again.

“The problem is Main Roads, they just don’t want to do anything about it.”

Mr Templeman said he was worried because the intersection is used by parents and students of a local school.

“This intersection has a lot of novice drivers going through it; especially around school times there are p-platers driving to the Baptist college, there are parents dropping kids,” he said.

The intersection has been been a concern to residents for several years, with Mr Templeman first raising the need for traffic lights at the Lakelands entrance in 2013.

In 2014, Mr Templeman tabled a petition of 450 signatures demanding the government install traffic lights at the intersection.

However, Main Roads insisted in July the intersection was not dangerous since most crashes hadn’t been serious. 

They said congestion on Catalina Drive would be alleviated by building additional entry points to Lakelands from Mandurah Road, but it was up to Peet, the estate developer, to provide them. 

The new planned entry points would be located at Lake Valley Drive and Banksiadale Gate, had been approved by Main Roads and were due to be completed by the end of 2016.

“The congestion at Catalina Drive will improve greatly when these additional signalised accesses to the Lakelands area completed,” a spokesperson from Main Roads said.

“In addition, an access from Lakelands to Mandjoogoordap Drive will also be completed at a similar time, further alleviating congestion at Mandurah Road.”

Main Roads has been contacted for comment following the latest accident but were yet to respond.