Jennifer Pittorino
For more than 11 years, Altona Meadows resident Dorothy MacKechnie has been advocating for a footbridge to be installed across the creek next to the Altona Sports Centre.
Now, with news of the beginning of the Hobsons Bay Wetlands Centre to be built nearby, Ms MacKechnie feels a footbridge is more necessary than ever.
“Council recently built two soccer fields, a cricket oval and Pavilion in HD Graham Reserve. They are well used and the soccer club will soon be introducing night games.” she said.
“The Altona Sports Centre was recently extensively extended, effectively doubling its building size, plus additional outdoor courts, and yet nothing has been done to accommodate the safety of pedestrians needing to access the area when walking from one side of Laverton Creek to the other.”
Although there is already the Laverton Creek Road bridge, Ms MacKechnie feels it is one kilometre out of the way when you only need to walk 10 metres across a bridge.
“When I first moved here 11 years ago, I walked across the bridge with my dogs and didn’t feel safe at all,” she said.
“The other day when I drove over the bridge someone was walking in the cycling lane with a child, and a cyclist needed to overtake, but this was made difficult with cars driving past in both directions. It’s just a recipe for disaster.”
With the wetlands centre set to be installed near the sports centre, Ms MacKechnie feels more infrastructure is required.
“It is a nice idea, but before council spends millions on more infrastructure, that will bring more people to this pocket, they need to make the area safe for people,” she said.
“People need to be able to safely cross the creek to get to the Sports Centre & Wetland Centre, particularly young people who don’t drive.”
A Hobsons Bay Council spokesperson said this is already a priority for them.
“A Queen Street pedestrian and cycling bridge has been a key advocacy priority for Council for several years,” they said.
“We have worked closely with the Department of Transport to complete their design work for the bridge.
“We continue to advocate to the state government and with the Department of Transport and Planning to get funds to construct the bridge.”
VicRoads were approached for comment.
