WELLINGTON Shire Council says York Street Revitalisation Works in Sale will allow accessible crossings upon its completion, after a resident raised concerns about her ability to safely cross the road.
Caroline (not her real name) from Sale, uses a mobility scooter, and she used to cross York Street from Stawell St, saying it was easy enough with the wider accessibility wedges/ramps on the footpath. The replacement works on the footpaths have a much smaller wedge/ramp, which Caroline says gives her fewer options to cross the road. She says it’s more difficult and dangerous to cross York Street at the moment.
“And now there are more cars going through Stawell St than ever before because of the works and the red lights on Macarthur St. It used to be a very quiet street,” she said.
Caroline has been speaking to multiple councillors about her concerns, and the Gippsland Times has followed it up with council.
At the moment, crossing York St near the Raglan St roundabout requires going across five lanes of traffic in one attempt, with no centre-point to stop and wait for traffic.
The Gippsland Times understands that the crossing point at Stawell St was removed as part of the York Street Revitalisation Works, as there is no pedestrian refuge in the centre of the road and was therefore not considered safe. There is no ability to provide a pedestrian refuge at that intersection as it contains a right-hand turning lane.
A new crossing will be put in a little further north of the Stawell St intersection (near Tyrepower), and this will be accessible for people with limited mobility.
In the meantime, until the new crossing point is installed later this year, the safest crossing location nearby is at the traffic lights at MacArthur St.
A Wellington Shire Council spokesperson said “the new crossing point will allow pedestrians to cross one direction of traffic, take a pause in the centre median strip to assess the traffic in the opposite direction, and then safely complete the rest of the crossing”.
Caroline responded positively to the statement, saying “that’s fine”, if council are building a dedicated crossing on York St near Stawell St.
The works are scheduled to be completed in December this year.
Completed works on the kerb and footpath of York Street.
