Mr MORRIS (Mornington) I raise a matter this evening for the Minister for Roads, and the action I seek is for the minister to arrange to fund the installation of traffic lights in the southern section of Main Street in Mornington.
I think this is actually the 10th time I have raised this issue in the Parliament.
Throughout the course of the last Parliament I requested action from the then minister because there is a serious risk of a fatality or a maiming accident in this location.
Unfortunately nothing occurred in that Parliament, but I have got to say that in this Parliament some works have actually been undertaken. We have had the reconstruction of a pedestrian refuge, the new construction of another and the introduction of a 40-kilometre-an-hour speed limit, with flashing lights and so on.
But the situation remains dangerous. I do want to acknowledge those works and thank the current minister for the responsiveness she has shown, but unfortunately I do not believe the works have gone far enough.
Traffic counts taken over the last three years, from 2016, suggest that the average daily volume on Main Street is 18 000 vehicles a day. I think I have made the comment in the house before that while that figure in itself is significant, the fact is that most of those 18 000 vehicles travel down Main Street during business hours or in the hour either side.
Certainly I avoid pulling out onto Main Street like the plague during those hours because it is hard enough in a vehicle; I certainly would not want to try and cross Main Street on foot during that time.
When I leave the office around about this time or a bit later in the evening, of course you could shoot a cannon up the street and it is very, very easy. The overwhelming majority of those 18 000 vehicles are travelling down the street probably between 8.00 am and 6.00 pm or thereabouts—exactly when people are trying to cross.