The Railway Parade intersection where Kogarah schoolgirl Aneri Patel died recently will be improved to ensure as much as possible that such an accident does not happen again.
Miss Patel, 16, from Kogarah High School died after a 4WD crashed into the O'Reilly & Daly Chemist at Kogarah, demolishing half the shop, about 11.30am on September 15.
The car had crashed into the front of the chemist shop, hitting employee Sue Ferguson and trapping a customer, 84. They were taken to nearby St George Hospital for treatment.
Minister for Roads and Freight, Duncan Gay, who joined Rockdale MP John Flowers and Kogarah mayor Michael Platt on Wednesday to inspect progress of a safety package undertaken since the accident, said several improvements would be finalised in the next few weeks.
They included turning arrangements, signal phasing, moving the bus stop, reviewing the speed limit and installing physical barriers such as bollards.
Banning a right turn from Montgomery Street into Regent Street was likely.
‘‘It is devastating to me as a roads minister to have seen another young life lost in a horrible tragedy here last month,’’ Mr Gay said.
‘‘At the time of the incident, I immediately directed the Centre for Road Safety and Roads and Maritime to work with Kogarah Council and NSW Police to investigate how we can improve safety at this intersection and help prevent another tragic incident.
‘‘Investigations by our road safety experts have now been undertaken and, additionally, the NSW Government and Kogarah Council contracted an independent road safety auditor to determine the most effective safety improvements at this location.’’
Cr Platt said the auditor had met with key stakeholders and all parties were working well together.
‘‘The road safety auditor has met with the council, Centre for Road Safety, Roads and Maritime and the NSW Police crash investigations team to identify key issues and possible solutions,’’ Cr Platt said.
“This comprehensive and independent analysis will provide for a thorough assessment of the intersection to hopefully address community concern.’’
Mr Flowers said the majority of people who used this particular bus stop caught the service to destinations in the Rockdale electorate, especially the Sans Souci peninsula, and it was important to work collaboratively to make sure a tragedy did not happen again.
Marg Prendergast from the Centre for Road Safety said the first phase of the work should be completed in the next three months.
She said an education component should be included in the package to address ‘‘behaviour issues’’ such as driving without a licence.
■ Puipuimaota Galuvao, 26, of Como, was arrested after the car she was driving mounted a footpath and fatally hit Aneri Patel outside the Kogarah chemist last month.
Police have charged her with several driving offences including dangerous driving occasioning death and driving without a licence.
She was granted bail and will appear in Kogarah Court on October 14.
*Readers please note that due to a pending court case we are unable to publish comments specifically about the accident for legal reasons.
Are you happy with the progress of fixing the traffic situation at the intersection so far?