Transport Canberra has delivered infrastructure improvements around Canberra schools to encourage students to walk, ride or catch public transport to school.
Minister for Roads and Active Travel, Chris Steel said the improvements delivered were designed to increase the visibility of crossings, slow down vehicles and reduce the distance pedestrians needed to cross the road.
“Improvements have been identified through direct engagement with schools and their communities and include new or improved refuge islands, footpath connections, crossings and speed humps,” Mr Steel said.
He said some of the schools to benefit from recent improvements included: Red Hill Primary – children’s crossing improvements; Majura Primary – children’s crossing improvements; Canberra Grammar School – new refuge islands and footpath connections; Harrison School – a raised pedestrian crossing on Nullarbor Avenue; Mother Teresa School – a raised pedestrian crossing on Mapleton Avenue; Namadgi School – speed humps at the children’s crossing; Amaroo School – children’s crossing improvements; and Holy Spirit School – children’s crossing improvements.
Mr Steel said additional infrastructure projects to ensure the safety of students were recently delivered at Horse Park Drive near Amaroo school, including an indented bus bay to improve driver sight; a new signalised pedestrian crossing at the entrance to the Amaroo playing fields; fencing in the median strip, removal of the median refuge islands, upgraded signalization; and a reduced speed limit of 80 km/h to 60 km/h.
Mr Steel also announced an evaluation had been conducted on the school crossing supervisor program which commenced in February 2018.
He said the program was launched with supervisors at 20 schools to increase safety and lessen parent concerns around safety while encouraging kids to walk or ride to school.
He said the evaluation report highlighted positive results, including: The presence of school crossing supervisors has positively influenced attitudes of parents; significantly improved perceptions on safety and danger; and supervisors had successfully influenced parents to allow their children to travel more actively.
“These results show that the school crossing program is working and that parents can feel confident that their kids will be safe as they travel to and from school,” Mr Steel said.
Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Yvette Berry said that it was great to see the report confirm the positive work crossing supervisors did, and to see more improvements to the crossings themselves.
“The trip to and from school can be a daunting one for parents as kids start travelling by themselves, so these improvements to manage traffic and the presence of someone ready to help certainly eases a bit of that stress,” Ms Berry said.
The 25-page evaluation can be accessed at this PS News Link.
