News / Road Safety
Melville Road safety comes under government scrutiny
Review to consider lower speed limits and other safety measures
Mark Phillips
LOWER speed limits in Melville Road could soon be on the way after the State Government began work on a “holistic review” of the corridor between Bell Street and Dawson Street.
The review follows a campaign to reduce the speed limit to 50kmh after several serious collisions in the past two years.
In recent correspondence with Pascoe Vale MP Anthony Cianflone, the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne, said she had been advised that the review would look at safety issues along the full length of Melville Road.
It will include remote school zone speed limits near St Joseph’s School and Brunswick North West Primary School and will take into consideration the Victorian Speed Zoning Guidelines, addressing the function of the road, crash history, vehicle types, the design features of the road, and passenger vehicle, freight, cyclist, and pedestrian movements through the area.
“These investigations are complex and require careful consideration,” Horne wrote in the letter dated October 16.
“The findings of the investigations will used to identify the need for any improvements along Melville Road.”
Horne acknowledged concerns of the Brunswick West and Pascoe Vale South communities that had been brought to her by Cianflone, whose electorate is on the west side of Melville Road (the electorate of Brunswick is on the east side).
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Melville Road is the only north-south link between Dawson Street and Bell Street that currently has an uninterrupted 60kmh speed limit and is heavily used by motorists seeking to avoid CityLink tolls. It is also part of the #58 tram route.
It is part of a road network that also includes Grantham Street, along which one-in-eight of Merri-bek’s pedestrian injuries take place.
Last year, an elderly man was killed when he was struck by a car crossing Melville Road at Hope Street, and earlier this year a female driver was seriously injured in a two-car collision at the Albion Street intersection.
Many students attending Brunswick North West Primary and St Joseph’s School must cross Melville Road each day to and from school.
The pedestrian group Walk On Merri-bek has also been advocating for a lower speed limit for the full length of the #58 tram.
Cianflone has publicly called for both a 50kmh speed limit for Melville Road augmented by a lower 40kmh limit around built up shopping areas and school zones.
He raised the issue again in the state Legislative Assembly in late-October.
“Over recent years, and particularly following the Covid-19 pandemic, locals have continued to raise concerns with me about the increasing congestion and dangerous and hazardous road behaviours along Melville Road that are compromising the safety of vulnerable road users,” Cianflone said.
No timeline has been specified for completion of the review, nor has Horne or the Department of Transport and Planning given any firm commitment to lowering speed limits.
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