News / Road Safety
The Coburg ‘race track’ that has a crash every fortnight
Residents’ group wants Murray Road reduced to single lane each way
Mark Phillips
A STOLEN car that smashed through a bus stop has put Murray Road in Coburg North on the map for all the wrong reasons.
The silver Ford Territory sat abandoned on the side of the road for a month, becoming such a local landmark that someone spray painted the message “Welcome to Coburg North” across its rear end before it was finally towed away on July 5.
For local residents, the length of time it took to remove the abandoned car was symbolic of the slow pace of action on safety improvements to the notorious road.
On average there is a serious accident once a fortnight on the road, which connects Coburg to Preston.
The most recent was on Sunday, July 20, when two cars collided at the intersection of Murray Road and Elizabeth Street. It was the 15th recorded accident this year, and the fifth at that intersection.
Yet in the two years since the Safer Walking and Riding for Murray Road (SWARM) group was formed, the only change that they have seen has been new children crossing signs.
But the group is not deterred. The June 6 crash was the catalyst for a public meeting held on July 6 – coincidentally the day after the smashed Ford was finally removed but also close to the second anniversary of the launch of their campaign – which renewed their determination to have the road reduced from two lanes in each direction to one, and to have a permanently lower speed limit.
Cate Hall, a founding member of SWARM and former school council president at Coburg High, said a combination of factors made Murray Road dangerous to all users, but particularly to pedestrians and cyclists.
“The road is experienced by locals as dangerous as well as being regarded as hostile, leading to it being a significant source of daily stress,” she said.
“There are also many who avoid using Murray entirely, meaning it’s an obstacle to everyday life, especially for students, parents, and older residents.
“This is a chronic, multi-faceted crisis of public safety and trust in local infrastructure.”
Residents say it was a miracle that the driver of the Ford Territory was not seriously injured when they veered off the road on June 6, obliterating a bus stop and narrowly missing a power pole before crashing into a tree. The driver abandoned the car.
It was the 14th accident this year.
Hall said Murray Road was a corridor that connected Preston to Coburg, but had become “a destination race track” since the number of lanes were doubled in 2011.
This was done because the wide single lane was viewed as encouraging dangerous driving. But the unintended byproduct was it brought dangerous driving within centimetres of people using the narrow shared path, and pedestrian refuges and bike lanes were lost.
The changes in 2011 also had no impact on speeding. Merri-bek Council regularly records speeds of 80 kmh – 20 kmh above the legal limit – on the road, with 39% of drivers heading westbound on the Merri Creek Bridge being clocked at above 60 kmh.
Hall said safety issues were magnified by poor visibility due to the undulating nature of the road and a local population boom as new residents moved into Pentridge and Coburg Hill. The opening of Coburg High a decade ago had also introduced more people walking and riding into the area.
Residents first came together in 2023 to campaign for improvements. A community survey that year found that more than a third of its 355 respondents had seen or been involved in accidents or near misses.
The dangerous driving along Murray Road also sometimes spills into its tributaries.
In September last year, local resident Claire Slattery had temporarily left her car parked outside the Barry Beckett child care centre in Connolly Avenue Street with her then-nine-year-old son in the passenger seat.
While she was inside picking up her daughter, a car driven by an allegedly drug-affected teenager hurtled around the corner off Murray Road and sideswiped the driver’s side of her vehicle where she had been sitting minutes earlier.
Her son was traumatised but unhurt, and her car was a write-off.
“I was shocked but not surprised because I see people driving dangerously all the time,” she said.
Hall said by far the most effective traffic safety measure in Murray Road would be to restore it to one lane each way, as it was before 2011.
“A lot of the Murray Road crashes are drivers speeding, often in stolen cars, and crashing into pedestrian areas, destroying structures including bus stops and crossing lights – although it’s only a matter of time before a person walking or riding is hit again,” she said.
“While speed reduction is important for safety, dangerous drivers don’t care what the speed limit is. We believe traffic calming measures will have the most safety impact.
“Our number one ask is for Murray Road to be reverted to one through lane each way, as it is to the east and west, to calm traffic and allow provision of space for all users – including protected bike lanes, pedestrian refuges and wider footpaths.”
Additionally, SWARM is lobbying for the speed limit on Murray Road to be reduced below 60 kmh, and for a review of all intersections in the corridor.
The State MP for Pascoe Vale, Anthony Cianflone, said he accepted the state government was largely responsible for the safety of Murray Road and its offshoots, and he was doing all he could to keep it on the agenda of the Department of Transport and Planning and the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne.
He said a 40 kmh school speed zone would be implemented between Stockade Avenue and the Merri Creek Bridge within the next 12 months, and was solid evidence that community lobbying was having an impact.
“Forty kmh [in the school zone] is an incredibly important first step, but it’s also about trying to get this implemented as soon as possible because the department’s commitment is only in the next 12 months,” he said.
Cianflone said he also supported reducing Murray Road’s speed limit to 50 kmh and changes to traffic slip lanes.
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