An independent traffic study of conditions surrounding Hurstville schools schools has raised many alarming road safety concerns for school children and their parents.
These include deformed safety fencing, inadequate green time at crossings, narrow footpaths forcing students to walk in traffic lanes, and faded road markings and zebra crossings.
Parental behaviour is also identified as a problem.
Parents are double parking near school entrances and no parking zones, drivers performing U-turns outside schools and bus stops located too close together.
The independent traffic study was commissioned by Georges River Council and carried out by Bitzios Consulting with the aim of identifying and addressing community road safety concerns.
It reviewed pedestrian safety, traffic congestion and parking arrangements at Hurstville Public School and other nearby schools such as Georges River College, Hurstville Boys Campus, Bethany College, St Mary’s Star of the Sea Catholic School, Hurstville Adventist School, and Sydney Technical High School.
The results will be presented to next Monday’s meeting of Georges River Council.
The study found that the only two schools within the study area had onsite designated drop-off / pick-up zone - Hurstville Adventist School and St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Catholic School.
The traffic study identified the locations of ‘unofficial’ drop-off/pick-up zones for the other schools to be located near respective pedestrian access points at:
- Hurstville Public School on Orange Street and Kenwyn Street Hurstville.
Georges River College- Hurstville Boys Campus, on Kenwyn Street, Vine Street and Crosby Avenue.
Hurstville Bethany College, on Waratah Street and Croydon Road Hurstville.
Sydney Technical High School, on Anderson Street, Ethel Street and northern part of Botany Street.
Problems identified in the study included:
Inadequate Pedestrian Crossing Infrastructure: A significant number of pedestrians come from the high-rise apartments at southern side of Forest Road, Wright Street and Durham Street intersection.
But there is no crossing is installed within 250 metres from this intersection for people walking towards Wright street or the north-western side of Forest Road.
Pedestrians practise unsafe crossing to avoid a longer walk. Georges River Council Council is currently liaising with developers to signalise the subject intersection with facilitating signalised pedestrian crossings.
Deformed fencing on footpath: Fences are installed on footpath within bus zones on Forest Road outside Hurstville Public School. Some parts of fences are twisted or damaged on both sides of Forest Road and may not protect pedestrian safety.
Inadequate green time for pedestrians: The green time for pedestrians crossing Forest Road at the signalised intersection with Lily Street seems inadequate and the waiting time seems quite long.
During afternoon peak period a significant number of students and parents are seen rushing to cross here with pedestrians rushing even after the red light starts flashing, and walking outside the designated crossing area.
The report recommends Roads and Maritime Services Investigate increasing the width of the crossing and increase the amount of green time for pedestrians during school peak hours. A countdown timer can be installed to better indicate to pedestrians how long they have to cross.
The Kenwyn Street cul-de sac was identified as a major trouble spot. Pedestrian access points for Hurstville Public School and Georges River College are located on this street and a large number of students are dropped-off / picked-up here.
Parking is unrestricted on both sides of the road. During school hours, this road becomes highly congested as parents park and double-park near the school entrances, including the northern end of the cul-de-sac of which is a 'no parking' zone dedicated for vehicular U-turns or three-point-turns.
The study recommends a designated short-time parking area for parents should be introduced so drop-off and pick-up can take place in an organised way.
It also recommends traffic enforcement and marking unbroken double barrier lines on Kenwyn Street to prevent drivers from performing U-Turns in the middle of the street during school pick-up and drop-off times.
The study said the four eastbound bus stops are located on north-western side of Forest Road between Roberts Lane and Anderson Street are too close together. The average spacing between these bus stops is 190 metres. School buses as well as public buses operate in these stops. The NSW State Transit Bus Infrastructure Guide suggests bus stops to be spaced at 200m to 400m intervals.
The report suggests Punchbowl Bus Company consider increasing spacing between bus stops by consolidating two or more bus stops into one.
The absence of fencing at the Forest Road and Croydon Road signalised intersection means students waiting to cross Forest Road often tend to stand on travel lanes.
The study suggests installing fences on the footpath at both sides of pedestrian crossing and widen the footpath and waiting area.
The width of footpath at south-eastern side of Croydon Road and north-western side of Forest road is only 2.6 metres.
“The footpath is too narrow at the bend for too many students at the school peak hours,” the study said. “Also, the fencing near the intersection is 3.5m long which seems inadequate to ensure safety of the pedestrians.”
The study recommends installation of longer fences on both sides of pedestrian crossing. The bus stop will need to be relocated for this to occur.
Faded Road marking: Road marking is faded on raised Zebra Crossing, painted '40' and 'dragon's teeth' at Vine Street near Orange Street and require require re-marking
A large number of students are dropped-off/picked-up at Orange Street near Orange Lane. To avoid the congestion at Orange Lane and Wright Street intersection, some drivers perform U-turns on Orange Street causing additional congestion.
The study said Orange Street be marked with double unbroken lines to prevent drivers from performing U-turns during school pick-up and drop-off times.
The width of Orange Street and Wright Street are 7m and 9m, respectively. Due to cars parked on both sides, these roads effectively become one-lane road with two-way movements.
The width of the footpath in Orange Lane is 2.3 metres near eastern end (Hurstville Public School access), but gradually narrows down to 1.5 metres only near the western end (Hurstville Adventist School access), which seems inadequate during School peak hours.
The council should install narrow footpath and poor visibility signs in Orange Lane.
