Parents, schools and councillors have raised their concern regarding a stretch of Wiltshire Lane in Delacombe and the safety risks it poses for pedestrians, especially children walking to and from school.
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The 800-metre stretch of road, between Whitelaw Avenue and Greenhalghs Road, separates the city's rapidly expanding south-western suburbs from Lumen Christi and Delacombe primary schools and Phoenix Community College, but also Delacombe residents for new community infrastructure in the new estates.
Residents and parents have taken issue with both the lack of a pedestrian crossing and the 80km/h speed limit currently in place which prevents a crossing being installed until it is reduced.
In less than a week, a community Facebook page dedicated to the cause, the Wiltshire Lane Pedestrian Crossing Action Group, has gathered nearly 300 followers.
Group member Rebekah Foster said the problem has only been exacerbated by recent growth.
"In more recent years with the development that's been going on, the increased traffic flow is now a huge problem and it's just not safe for children or any community members to be trying to cross the road at any given time," she said.
"I know that the government has committed and is installing traffic lights at the Smythes Road intersection and also at Latrobe Street which will help traffic flow but it actually won't help with pedestrians crossing this stretch of road."
Ms Foster said the group would ideally like to see some kind of safe crossing installed across the road.
"It's got to work, obviously, with the traffic flow as well so there'd be a lot to take into consideration, but just a safe way that any community members could cross either side of the road at any time," she said.
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Delacombe Primary School school council president Aileen Shearer-Cox said she will not let her children walk through the area after seeing the levels of danger the road presents.
"I actually had cause to use this intersection a week or so ago and saw children at the end of the day trying to cross the road and I was terrified for them and that was the end of me ever letting my children walk through here by themselves," she said.
"It was just terrifying to watch. I wasn't the first car so I couldn't give way to them, but it was just scary so something has to be done before someone has an accident."
City of Ballarat south ward councillor Des Hudson said the road had been a significant issue for the community for the better part of a decade.
"The simple thing, at the moment, is to change the speed limit along Wiltshire Lane to 60km/h, that could then enable the supervised school crossing to be installed that would provide that safe crossing point," he said.
"Let's get on with the job, let's make it safe for everyone before a tragedy happens, let's be proactive and not reactive."
The Department of Transport said Regional Roads Victoria was actively investigating safety improvements following community feedback regarding the road and two existing roundabouts, at Latrobe Street and the Glenelg Highway, were being replaced with traffic lights which were expected to be delivered by the end of 2022.
"We understand that the way the community uses this road has changed and we're investigating how we can improve safety for everyone, including pedestrians," RRV Grampians regional director Michael Bailey said.
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