Ms Lovell said the Kialla West Primary School was still waiting for changes to the pedestrian crossing outside its grounds five years after a frightening three-vehicle accident.
Traffic for school drop-offs, through traffic, including heavy transport on the Goulburn Valley Hwy, and children on bicycles and foot all converge at the crossing in the mornings and afternoons.
“Children who access this crossing every school day deserve to be protected from any dangers, and their parents deserve to have peace of mind that their children can walk to school safely,” Ms Lovell said.
The Liberal MP said she had been calling on the Victorian Government to make adequate improvements to the crossing for five years, but successive ministers had only managed to say that “discussion” continued between Regional Roads Victoria, the school and council, while nothing was actually done.
“It’s time for transparency on the Kialla West crossing, which is why I have requested the minister arrange a meeting between Regional Roads Victoria and myself to discuss progress on this project,” she said.
Ms Lovell said greater transparency would allow the community to know whether improvements would occur.
In June 2022, The News reported on a bureaucratic stalemate between government departments regarding the crossing.
At the time, Kialla West school council president Jamie Gilbert said the school council had been told Regional Roads Victoria was waiting for advice from Heritage Victoria before making plans for the project, but Heritage Victoria said it could not provide advice without plans.
The News asked the government again this week if it planned to make improvements to the crossing and, if so, when.
It was also asked if it didn’t plan to make improvements to the crossing, why not?
Those questions were not directly answered.
The Department of Transport and Planning did say, though, that safety improvements were made to the crossing immediately after the crash in 2018.
It said that included a review of school crossing signage while Greater Shepparton City Council repainted lines to provide better “delineation of the school crossing”.
“We made immediate safety improvements at Kialla West Primary School following a road safety incident in 2018 and continue to investigate further improvements,” a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the crossing is on an arterial state-managed road, with Greater Shepparton City Council responsible for the school crossing.
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