The Shire of Collie will be funding a series of road safety projects after a proposal was unanimously passed at last week’s ordinary council meeting.
The proposal called for the shire to fund a $20,364 project to install traffic calming devices on Mungalup Road between Crampton Street and Prinsep Crescent.
Director Technical Services Brett Lowcock stated in the agenda that this particular section of Mungalup Road has been the site of several serious crashes in recent times, with speed identified as a significant contributor.
Recently, local resident Tara Moxon created a petition for traffic calming measures to be installed along the road to eliminate what she described as a “daily occurrence of excessive speeding and hooning” along the stretch of road.
Ms Moxon said she created the petition because she would “hate to see another family lose a loved one” when there were traffic calming measures available.
Ms Moxon also said the idea had local support, with the petition gathering between 300 and 400 signatures.
Mr Lowcock said during the meeting that traffic watch had found that about 76 per cent of traffic on the road exceeded the 50km/h speed limit.
While the exact locations of the speed cushions have not been confirmed Mr Lowcock indicated they would be installed just after the roundabout at Crampton Street and near Heritage Park at Prinsep Crescent.
The shire will consult with residents about other locations for the speed cushions along the street, although options are limited as the cushions have to be placed under streetlights.
Mr Lowcock said the speed cushions were the best short term solution as it would take considerable funding to fix the “outdated” roundabout at the intersection of Mungalup Road and Crampton Street.
The reaction to any traffic calming measures on the road from local residents on social media was mixed with many people raising concerns about effectiveness and the potential noise issues related to driving over the cushions while others were supportive of the idea.
The council item also called for the funding of three separate projects to resurface damaged asphalt at a cost of $160,000.
The intersection between Palmer Road and Coombes Street, the intersection between Medic Street and Steere Street North along with Johnston Street were all identified as needing resurfacing.
The funding will come from the federal government’s Roads to Recovery program. The shire had just over $180,000 of un-allocated funds under the program that needed to be spent by June next year.
