Back to School - Back to chaos on Moggill Road
Monday, 06 October 2008 12:29
Today’s return to school for many students in the local area has seen a return to the chaos on Moggill Road with residents reporting they take up to three-quarters of an hour to get from Karana Downs or Bellbowrie to Kenmore.
Local residents know this happens every time and underscores yet again the urgency about making a decision and getting some action on local road infrastructure for Moggill Road. It also highlights the desperate need for a large upgrade to public transport in the local area.
Many school trips could be done by public transport if we had suitable public transport. Many residents often contact me frustrated with the Government’s years of neglect in not addressing what should be a basic right and that is the right to be able to get to and from work, school, university, hospitals, airports etc, in a reasonable manner.
I heard one caller on talkback radio last week say they have sold their home to leave the area because of this problem.
Expert advice for Lights and Pedestrian Crossing at Birkin Road Ignored
Thursday, 02 October 2008 11:07
What does it take to get something done about roads in Bellbowrie?
In recent days I uncovered a document using Freedom of Information Laws, from July 2007 that recommended not only action on the speed limit through Bellbowrie but installation of lights at the intersection of Birkin Road and Moggill Road!
Despite the Chief Safety Engineer stating that action on this intersection was required by December 2007 nothing has happened.
I am particularly annoyed that this sort of report is kept secret for well over a year. Local residents have a right to this information.
Click here to read what the report says about the Birkin Road/Moggill Road intersection.
I found the unearthing of this expert document extraordinary given that a year after its production and only a few days before the recent fatality on Moggill Road I received a letter from Main Roads making it clear they would not provide a pedestrian crossing. (this letter was posted on www.moggill.net only four days before the recent tragedy) Yet the report a year earlier makes it clear that lights were strongly recommended for the intersection. The Main Roads Minister claimed on radio that these lights would include a pedestrian crossing.
Margaret de Wit, myself and local residents have been campaigning for years to get something done about this stretch of road and it is extraordinary that the Government’s expert reports are shrouded in secrecy and we continue to be frustrated by bureaucratic nonsense such as this latest rejection of a pedestrian crossing. Click here to view Main Roads Department letter.
This was sent despite the fact the Department’s experts had already recommended lights on the intersection which would include a pedestrian crossing!
This report shows clearly that not only pedestrians are at risk but there is a growing instance of serious motor accidents in just recent years including 7 serious accidents.
We just want something done here to make this road safe for local motorists and local pedestrians. It is not a hugely expensive process, it has been recommended within the Government. We do not want a political debate about it, we just want something done.
Government closes Schools in Western Growth Area
Thursday, 02 October 2008 08:56
Local residents who have been petitioning Education Minister Welford in relation to the need for a high school in the Karana Downs, Mount Crosby, Karalee area will be dismayed to see that the Government have actually decided to close more schools in the Ipswich area despite this area being the major designated growth corridor for South East Queensland.
The Government announced that it would be closing three schools and selling off the sites to fund the construction of one single school at Bremer.
Local residents understand the problems associated with not having a school locally and it seems an extraordinary decision that having decided that hundreds of thousands of additional residents should be put into the Ipswich area under the Government’s South East Queensland Regional Plan that the Government would be reducing the number of schools.
It is not always the best outcome to have large schools instead of local schools.
Kenmore High School parents join push for Pedestrian Safety
Monday, 29 September 2008 14:46
Parents from Kenmore State High School have joined-in the push to improve pedestrian safety around our local area.
Click Here to read their letter to the Minister for Main Roads calling for the Government to provide safe pedestrian crossings on Moggill Road, which currently does not have a single safe pedestrian crossing on the 10km of State-controlled road between Kenmore and Moggill State School.
Their call follows the tragic death of a student from the school last month, while attempting to cross busy Moggill Road at Bellbowrie to access the bus-stop. To read more about this tragedy – Click Here.
I have since written to the Minister in support of their sentiments. Click Here to read that letter.
Local Residents have launched petitions calling on the Government to take urgent action to provide safe crossings on Moggill Road at Bellbowrie (Click Here) and at the Moggill Road/Grandview Road intersection (Click Here).
Win on Mt Crosby Road Safety
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 12:41
The intersection of Kangaroo Gully Road and Mt Crosby Road which has claimed at least one life and has been the scene of other serious accidents has been a grave concern for some time.
Regular readers will be aware that I nominated this intersection to the State Government for funding of a safety upgrade under the Safer Roads Sooner Program.
I am pleased that the Main Roads Department have informed me they will fund a safety upgrade of this intersection. I am informed that funding will be put into the current Roads Implementation Program.
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