News / Road Safety

Brunswick East residents step up campaign for safer streets

Dozens of accidents have been recorded in a short stretch of road over the past five years

Residents including Caterina Cinanni (front left) at the notorious bend where Nicholson and Albion streets converge.

Mark Phillips
Friday, April 9, 2021


BRUNSWICK East residents have catalogued more than 60 incidents in a little over five years where motorists have crashed into other cars or property within a notorious stretch of road along Albion Street.

The incidents, which include cars colliding with each other, with trees or signs, or smashing into fences, have all occurred in an area less than 700 metres in length.

Resident Caterina Cinanni, who runs the BEsafestreets Facebook page, said the number of accidents they have recorded since late-2015 is likely to be considerably fewer than all crashes and near misses in the area.

She said long-time residents say the trouble began when a small section of Harrison Street near the Brunswick Velodrome was closed to traffic. This has forced motorists heading north to use Albion Street to get onto Holmes Road and then Moreland Road, rather than continue all the way along Harrison Street.

As a result, Albion Street has become an arterial road by default, although it was never designed for such traffic volumes.

“I’ve lived here almost 20 years and met people who have lived here for 40 years and they tell me it used to be so safe that their kids used to play cricket in Albion Street. But now it’s so unsafe I won’t let my own kids cross the road in Albion Street.”

Like many other residents in the area, Ms Cinanni’s front fence and gate has been smashed twice in recent years, as have her neighbours on the opposite side of the road.

She said that when her children were still attending Brunswick East Primary School, less than half a kilometre away, she observed many near misses at the school crossing and feared a child would be hit one day.

This prompted the school community to circulate a petition which eventually caught the attention of then-state Labor MP Jane Garrett. The Facebook page was set up around the same time to capture photos and details of incidents at the bend.

Ms Garrett took up the group’s campaign in 2015, helping to reduce the speed limit from 60kmh to 40kmh. But the campaign stalled after that initial success.

Now current Brunswick MP Tim Read has taken up the mantle following a spate of recent incidents, including the same Albion Street front fence being hit twice within three weeks.

Dr Read has set up a survey on his website to gather evidence about the dangers of the Nicholson-Albion streets bend which will be used to advocate to Moreland Council and VicRoads.

Ms Cinanni said local residents had a list of five changes which they believe would make the area safer.

The first of these, reducing the speed limit, has been achieved. Other changes include a redesign of the Nicholson Street Bend, street calming measures such as rumble strips or speed humps “to stop drag racing into and out of the corner”, restrictions on trucks using the road, a safer school crossing which is currently on a blind spot, and a dedicated cycling path.

Ms Cinanni said permanent investment was needed to make the area safer but residents’ requests for help seemed to disappear into a black hole between VicRoads and Moreland Council.

The first of these, reducing the speed limit, has been achieved. Other changes include a redesign of the Nicholson Street Bend, street calming measures such as rumble strips or speed humps “to stop drag racing into and out of the corner”, restrictions on trucks using the road, a safer school crossing which is currently on a blind spot, and a dedicated cycling path.

Ms Cinanni said permanent investment was needed to make the area safer but residents’ requests for help seemed to disappear into a black hole between VicRoads and Moreland Council.

“VicRoads says it’s just a matter of money,” she said. “There’s been buck passing from the council to VicRoads and when it gets to VicRoads they say they don’t have the funding. I’ve had VicRoads engineers come down here but I think it’s time the Roads Minister came down and spoke to the residents.”

But the Head of Transport Services in the Victorian Department of Transport, Nick Foa, said there were no plans to change the alignment of Nicholson Street as removing the curve would require the acquisition of several properties.

“We’ve improved safety along this stretch of road by reducing the speed limit and installing zig zag lines as a reminder of pedestrian crossings,” he said.

“We always welcome the community’s input, and we’ll continue to work with them, our road safety partners Victoria Police and the local council to ensure the safety of all road users in this area.”

Moreland Council was approached for comment but did not respond.