Safety fears over new Racecourse Rd tram stop crossing

The pedestrian crossings at either end of a new tram stop in Racecourse Rd are unsafe, according to local residents, including a woman who suffered serious injuries when she was hit by a car at one of them.

The new route 57 Smithfield Rd/Racecourse Rd tram stop, opposite the Flem/Ken Bowling Club, has been built to accommodate the 25-metre-long, low-floored G-class vehicles that aim to make accessing them easier for pedestrians.

Completed a couple of months ago, it replaced two former Racecourse Rd stops that were controlled with push button pedestrian crossing lights, but the new stop is marked with just a couple of signs.

On the morning of July 31, a local resident in her thirties was on her way to work, crossing Racecourse Rd to catch the tram into town, when she was hit.

“From my experience using this crossing, I had concerns about the overall safety and the behaviour of vehicles approaching it,” she said.

“I specifically waited and made eye contact with an approaching driver before beginning to cross, which felt essential.”

But part-way over she heard a larger vehicle approaching at speed.

“I turned to look and saw a truck travelling towards the car without appearing to slow down,” she said.

“The impact lifted me onto the bonnet of the car, and I was carried forward by the force of the collision and the continued force of the truck. I then lost consciousness.”

When she came to, she was lying on her back on the asphalt with a police officer standing over her.

The significant pain of being moved onto a stretcher saw her lose consciousness again.

Ambulance Victoria said they had responded to reports about the crash at around 8am, with Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedics assessing and treating the patient at the scene and taking her to hospital.

The woman, who came to at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, was found to have sustained a fractured skull and brain bleed, and fractures to her shoulder, foot and pelvis.

Police confirmed they believed a car that had been giving way to her at the zebra crossing had been hit by a truck.

Neither of the drivers had been injured.

“Investigators believe there was a collision between an Isuzu truck and a Kia Cerato, which has caused a pedestrian to be hit,” a spokesperson said.

They were continuing to investigate and appealed for anyone with information to get in touch via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au.

The woman who was hit told North West City News the new zebra crossing not only lacks traffic lights but is located in a section of Racecourse Rd where two lanes merge into one and surrounding trees impede the visibility of signage.

Kensington resident Michael Uren, who drives through the intersection often, agreed the merging of lanes out of the Epsom Rd roundabout before the crossing was a significant safety issue.

“I can see that [crash] happening on the in-bound lane because of the quick merging of two lanes before the tram stop, and because the line markings of the car parking that was there previously haven’t been removed and so cars are still parked there, which makes it even more hairy,” he said.

“There’s no flashing lights on the zebra crossing, which they probably should have.

Overall, there seemed to have been “a sort of half-finished job” done on the new infrastructure, he said.

Another Kensington local, cyclist Andrew Rowe, had nearly been hit three or four times at the crossing, he said.

On one occasion, he was wheeling his bike across it when an elderly man whizzed past, narrowly missing him, and honked at him, looking angry.

“Having a pedestrian crossing in the middle of the road is a new thing around there,” Mr Rowse said.

“All the other [road features] are controlled by traffic signals.”

He also believed a confusing range of speed limits in the area, some of which changed at different times of the day, resulted in drivers ignoring them.

Despite being traumatised, the injured woman, who lives on Ascot Vale Rd, is focused on her recovery and determined to get on with her life in the neighbourhood.

“It’s my home,” she said.

“One split second can’t hold me back from feeling safe and comfortable in the suburb overall.”

The Department of Transport was contacted about the crossing but didn’t respond by deadline. •