Jennifer Pittorino
Whitehall Street in Footscray will become a 40km/h zone from May 22.
VicRoads has installed signs alerting motorists to the reduced sped limit, which is enforceable from Wednesday.
Maribyrnong council is also installing 40km/h speed signs at the entrance to the Joseph Road precinct in Footscray.
Council said the signs would help address safety concerns in the precinct, which currently does not have any speed signs, according to Joseph Road Precinct Action Group (JRPAG).
Council is also completely line marking at the intersection of Joseph Road and Hopkins Street and the intersection of Hallenstein and Warde streets to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and other road users.
JRPAG spokesperson Samantha Meredith said the group is calling on the state government to also reduce the speed limit of Hopkins Street from 60km/h to 40km/h.
“We want to see the revitalisation of Hopkins Street, as well as the bike connection from the river to the Footscray CBD, so there’s a safe passage for everybody.
“We have an awful lot of speeding cars, there’s a lot of people that have to jump out of the way of cars, so it’s an incredibly dangerous precinct.”
Maribyrnong mayor Cuc Lam said council will continue to advocate a speed reduction on Hopkins Street.
“Council also wants to see new traffic signals – pending [department of transport and planning approval – at the Hopkins-Hallenstein street intersection.”
The state government was contacted for comment.
