By Goya Dmytryshchak
A Brooklyn mother has labelled Millers Road “an emerging pedestrian death trap” due to West Gate Tunnel works.
Alexia Boland Herrick said she feared pedestrians could be hurt or killed at “risky and unsafe” crossing points where Millers Road intersected with Paringa Road and Primula Avenue.
She said tunnel works had resulted in dangerous diversions forcing pedestrians onto the road. “For anyone that’s got a walking stick, a wheelchair or a pram or anything like that, it’s just so super dangerous,” Ms Boland Herrick said.
“The only way I could get across … was by actually stepping onto the road and by drivers actually stopping … because there was no way to get across.
“This major poor planning error even goes as far as to invite local pedestrians to somehow divert to other closed pathways, leaving them effectively stranded in the process.”
Hobsons Bay mayor Jonathon Marsden said the council had written to the West Gate Tunnel contractors, CPB John Holland, after learning of Ms Boland Herrick’s concerns and backed her call for urgent action.
“We are hopeful that these current issues will be actioned immediately and will keep monitoring conditions,” he said.
West Gate Tunnel Project spokeswoman Kim Payne urged people to contact them if they saw issues that needed to be addressed.
“During construction there will be changes to how people move about and we will make sure they are safe and as easy to use as possible,” she said.
“We recognise there may be times of inconvenience during construction and we thank people for their patience.”
