The footbridge over Princes Highway, Sylvania, was the result of a five-year campaign by the parents of schoolchildren following a tragic accident.
On August, 12, 1960, a Sylvania Primary School pupil was killed on her ninth birthday when a wheel came loose from a semi-trailer as it stopped for traffic lights on the highway.
The rolling wheel hit the schoolgirl, who was on the crossing.
The school’s Parents & Citizens Association (P&C) called a special meeting after the accident, where parents called for a footbridge to be built,
A petition was circulated throughout Sutherland Shire.
It was common for children to have to cross the highway because, at that time, the infants department was located on the other side.
There were calls for the schools to be consolidated – a move which occurred years later.
The truck losing a wheel was not an isolated incident –there were three similar occurrences over the following four months.
A man was injured in one of the accidents and two schoolboys narrowly escaped being hit in another.
In February, 1966, work began on a $30,000 footbridge over the highway.
The Leader reported the project was “a triumph” for the P&C, which had fought for five years to have the bridge built”.
“At one stage, residents threatened to organise a mass sit-down on the highway to block traffic,” the report said.
“The mass sit-down was threatened after the then State Premier (Mr Renshaw) had refused to meet a deputation because he was ‘too busy’.
“Mr Renshaw refused to grant any priority for an overbridge, saying that the traffic lights gave sufficient protection to schoolchildren using the crossing.”
The P& C campaign was not the first time the school had been forced to fight for a road safety improvement.
In 1956, the school community staged a protest on the highway, demanding traffic lights be installed.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY
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We will bring you photographs of a news event from 57 years of Leader news coverage that you may or may not recall.
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