PARENTS of Meadow Springs Primary School (MSPS) students rallied with Mandurah MLA David Templeman this morning over the lack of crossing guards on Oakmont Avenue.
Mr Templeman said the area had been approved for a manned pedestrian crossing in August last year and he was shocked it was not in place yet.
“I’m astounded that this wasn’t completed before the start of the school year,” he said.
Mr Templeman said the City of Mandurah should “pull out all the stops” to get the work completed as soon as possible.
A City of Mandurah spokesperson said the work on the crosswalk would begin on Tuesday.
The City of Mandurah will be installing the safety crossing infrastructure for the guard-controlled crossing on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week,” a City spokesperson said.
“WA Police is responsible for the provision of guard-controlled crossings, and the application to fund this activity was approved in August 2013 to take place at the start of the 2014 school year.
“Following the approval in August, the City had to organise the plans, as it is a regulatory crossing and must conform to the requirements of the Traffic Act.
“To achieve this, Main Roads WA had to approve plans for the crossing’s signing and line marking, to which the City received approval on January 24.”
Mr Templeman said the school’s increased numbers meant more students walking and cycling in the area.
“This is a priority school for Mandurah as there are so many students here and Oakmont Avenue is used as a through-way for people going to Frederick Irwin and Assumption.”
Local mother Kylie Brown said the area was “not safe” for pedestrians and she often struggled to get her children across the road.
“I don’t want it to get to a point where there are white crosses in the area before a crosswalk,” she said.
“The safety of the students is the priority.”
Tanya Lewis also has students enrolled at the school and said she preferred to walk her children to school 15 minutes before it opened to avoid the traffic.
“You’re constantly looking over your shoulder, there are cars everywhere,” she said.
Lack of parking spaces for parents and traffic congestion was also an issue raised by Mr Templeman, Ms Brown and Ms Lewis.
“I’ve done a count of car bays outside the school area and there’s only 38 – that is nowhere near enough for a school with almost 1000 students,” Mr Templeman said.
“There are lots of cars parked on verges in the streets surrounding the school.”
Ms Lewis said traffic around the school could at times be banked up back to Meadow Springs Drive because of congestion around the drop-off area.
