Parents fed up with traffic chaos outside a primary school in Kogarah have petitioned the council and Roads and Maritime Services to make some changes before an accident happens.
The main entrance to St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School is located on Chapel St, near the St George Hospital emergency department, where parents use a kiss and ride system to pick up and drop off their children.
Particularly around 3pm, traffic is notoriously bad, backing up from Chapel St, down Short St and onto Gray St – which can cause stand stills and make it difficult for children to cross the road.
A parent at the school, Elise Borg, started a petition this year to make some changes for children’s safety.
The petition has since been sent to Georges River Council and Roads and Maritime Services – with mixed responses to the recommendations.
As part of the petition, Mrs Borg said she would love to see the nearby intersection of Princes Highway and Gray St reduced to a 40km/h zone. She said children often crowd near the busy intersection.
“It is a major road and highway, and you have 40 or 50 kids that can cross it at any one time. They walk out behind cars to get across that road because of backed up traffic,” she said. “The 40km/h zone finishes [70m] away. Why don’t they expand it?”
She said there was no pram ramps either at some of the corners of that intersection.
Another issue, affecting traffic, is when motorists disregard the no parking signs outside the school’s kiss and ride zone. Along Gray St, there is also no parking signs for certain times, which are often neglected by motorists.
Mrs Borg said when one or two cars parked in those spots it caused huge traffic problems.
She said recommendations had been passed on to the council to move some car parks, change some signs from no parking to no stopping, and extend some of the no stopping times.
Mrs Borg said she was not surprised by the amount of parents and supporters, numbering over 100, who had signed the petition. Mrs Borg presented the petition to Georges River Council last month.
A Georges River Council spokesperson said as well as the petition, they had received a number of other complaints from members of the community.
“This feedback from the community formed the basis of a report presented to the Georges River Council Traffic Advisory Committee in June 2017.”
The council has since decided to change 11, 90-degree car parks outside the school’s kiss and ride zone to six parallel parks. Seven, 90-degree car parks will be placed on the other side of the road.
That decision has been approved but still needs to be confirmed with the school.
Also, the council spokesperson said some changes for extending no stopping times, and changing signage, will go to community consultation ahead of another meeting in August.
The council spokesperson said traffic would also likely improve when construction was completed at the St Patrick’s Green retirement facility on Chapel St.
Roads and Maritime Services, who look after major highways, has decided not to change the speed limit around the intersection of Princes Highway and Gray St. The speed limit is currently 70km/h through that intersection.
“The existing school zones are considered adequate in relation to the distance from the school entrances,” a Roads and Maritime Services spokesperson said.
“As there is no direct pedestrian access to St Patrick's Catholic Primary School on Gray St, it does not meet the Roads and Maritime guidelines for a school zone. Roads and Maritime is investigating potential safety improvements at the intersection of Gray Street and Princes Highway.”
St George Hospital said the bad traffic outside the school had not affected ambulances coming and going from the emergency department.
St Patrick's Catholic Primary School principal Susan Bracken said traffic outside the school's kiss and ride zone was "challenging".
"Traffic gridlock outside the hospital and school is problematic around school pick-up time," she said.
"Parents picking up their children using kiss and ride have been reminded to arrive after 3.05pm for the process to work most effectively.
“We have found this to be an extra level of safety for parents walking their children to and from school.”
She said discussions with council over the years had been positive.
“The council has listened to the feedback from our school community and we welcome these [parking changes outside the kiss and ride zone] to ease parking pressures from our local streets."
