Pedestrian safety improvements

  • Project statusProject complete
  • Last updatedNovember 2021
Aerial overview of Hesse Street, Queenscliff

About the project

We've installed a number of pedestrian safety improvements across the Borough to make it easier to get where you need to go on foot. You'll notice new pedestrian crossings and refuges throughout Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale, including at the following locations:

Improvement works in Queenscliff

Gellibrand Street: A new pedestrian crossing

Project status: Complete

Vehicles on Gellibrand Street regularly exceed the speed limit, endangering pedestrians and other vehicles. To make the street safer, we built a pedestrian crossing using a design produced alongside community consultation. Ninety-six people shared their ideas for how we could make Gellibrand Street even safer:

  • We heard that you agreed with us that speeding traffic and a lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure is a problem in the area.
  • We heard that you preferred a wombat or zebra crossing for a pedestrian crossing design.
  • We heard that you wanted a crossing to be the first step of a broader approach to addressing pedestrian safety in the area.

Council has now completed the Gellibrand Street crossing and it is operational for all vehicles and pedestrians. We've also allocated $20,000 in the 2021–22 budget to undertake a traffic study of the broader area.

Hesse Street: Two new pedestrian crossings and 40km/h speed limits

Project status: Complete

We also heard feedback that crossing points in Hesse Street didn't work as well as they should. Based on the feedback we heard from our Gellibrand Street consultation, Council commissioned a transport safety specialist to investigate how we might make this street safer for pedestrians. The specialist's report(PDF, 3MB) made four recommendations:

  1. Convert two crossing points on Hesse Street to pedestrian crossings;
  2. Set a permanent speed limit of 40km/h in Hesse Street;
  3. Conduct further work examining nearby roundabouts for potential additional safety treatments; and
  4. Further examine pedestrian and vehicle interaction at the north end of Gellibrand Street.

We asked the community what they thought about these recommendations during an additional round of consultation. The majority of respondents supported the recommendations(PDF, 566KB). At the Ordinary Meeting of Council on 28 April, Council resolved to implement the first two recommendations. Works to construct a pedestrian crossing and permanently set a 40km/h speed limit were completed in August 2021.

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King Street: A new pedestrian refuge opposite the General Store Café

Project status: Complete

We've built a new safe pedestrian refuge on King Street opposite the General Store Café. This new crossing consists of a traffic island in the centre of the road, wider verges, and associated line markings. These works will make it safer and easier for pedestrians to cross the road in stages. Works were completed in November 2021.

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Flinders Street: A new pedestrian refuge opposite Cottage By The Sea

Project status: Complete

We've built a new pedestrian refuge near the intersection of Flinders Street and Swanston Street that assists pedestrians in safely crossing the road when accessing programmes and events held at Cottage By The Sea, as well as providing beach access further down Swanston Street. Works were completed in November 2021.

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Improvement works in Point Lonsdale

Ocean Road: A new pedestrian crossing and 40km/h speed limits

Project status: Complete

Ocean Road is a busy and popular thoroughfare in Point Lonsdale. Surfers, swimmers, tennis players and exercisers use this stretch of road year round to access our beaches, play sport and keep fit. To help increase the safety of the large number of pedestrians utilising Ocean Road, we installed a wombat crossing at the entrance to Point Lonsdale Back Beach, two 'slow points' at nearby T-intersections, two gateway treatments, and introducing a 40km/h zone to encourage safer driving. Works on these installations were completed in August 2021.

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Point Lonsdale Road: A new pedestrian crossing near Admans Street

Project status: Complete

We also installed a wombat crossing at the top end of Point Lonsdale Road, near Admans Street. This provides another crossover point for shoppers accessing retail and cafes further up Point Lonsdale Road, as well as improving pedestrian access to the Point Lonsdale Bowls Club. Works were completed in late August 2021.

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These works are funded by the Australian Government's Road Safety Program.