Low-use has guided Council on changes to school-crossings
January 31, 2018
Colac Otway Shire Council has worked closely with principals to change three low-use school crossings in Colac from supervised to unsupervised, with Murray Street west being removed completely.
Affected crossings are located at Chapel Street, Murray Street west and Gravesend Street in Colac.
Monitoring of use at the crossings in 2017 showed between zero and four users per day at the Chapel Street crossing and between zero and two at the Murray Street west crossing. The Gravesend Street crossing was virtually unused in 2017 and was unsupervised for the majority of the year; the Gravesend Street crossing will remain unsupervised in 2018.
Acting CEO Robert Dobrzynski said Council carried out monitoring during 2017 to ensure it was safe to make the changes from supervised crossings to unsupervised.
“The safety of children going to school is of utmost importance to Council and we will ensure supervised crossings are located in the most practical and beneficial locations for all users.
“Schools will notify parents of the crossing changes via their school newsletters,” Mr Dobrzynski said.
“Council encourages students to cross at the traffic lights at Murray and Hart/Grant streets as it’s a much safer option than the previous supervised crossing at Murray Street west,” Mr Dobrzynski said.
Flags will continue to be displayed at Chapel Street and Gravesend Street as a caution to drivers to adhere to school-time speed limits.
Mr Dobrzynski said Council had worked closely with school principals and consulted school crossing supervisors in making the decision to convert these crossings to unsupervised.
“After working with school principals, it was agreed these three crossings do not need to be supervised during the 2018 school year.
“The location of school crossings and the need for them to be supervised changes over time as routes and patterns of movement change.
“While the need for supervision at these three crossings declined in 2017, the patterns of movement will continue to be monitored through 2018 to determine if a supervisor is required again in the future,” Mr Dobrzynski said.
There are currently 19 school crossings across Colac Otway Shire, 17 in Colac and one crossing in Beeac and one crossing in Apollo Bay.
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