04 April 2017
Hi Judith P. [cc: Pauline C., Ali J., Jenny H., Penny G., & Don G.]
Thank you for your email. Sorry I only heard the end of Don’s conversation with you this morning.
Please pass on my thanks to the Board and the Senior Parking Compliance Officer and Community Travel Adviser for their comments regarding this issue.
Re: Senior Parking Compliance Officer
The school newsletter regularly has notices in it regarding:
– drivers behavior in the back car park/driveway that is off Riselaw Street
– parents parking in the staff car park at the front of the school.
It would be good if Parking Compliance were able to assess this area & were able to educate & move along those parking on the broken yellow lines.
I know visually this would make the lights crossing more visible for the drivers driving up and down Shirley Road.
But I’m concerned that the drivers who choose to park in this area might become abusive to the Parking Compliance Officer.
The real issue is where are they suppose to park?
Drivers know they are not suppose to park on the broken yellow lines or in the school staff car park, so where do they park?
– broken yellow lines take up most of the space outside Shirley Primary
– 2 bus stops either side of the lights crossing
– bus stop at the beginning of Emmett Street, from Shirley Road
– bus stop on the corner of Emmett Street & Shirley Road, outside St Stephen’s land
– bus stop on the corner of Petrie St & Shirley Road
Drivers can park down Chancellor Street, but it is a dead end street and is very difficult to get out of during peak times due to the build up of traffic on Shirley Road.
Is it possible to create a yellow lined bay, no driving into this intersection, at the Chancellor Street & Shirley Road intersection?
This would give drivers the opportunity to turn right safely when the lights are red at the crossing.
Is it possible to create angled parking on the Shirley Community Centre side of Chancellor Street, to create more safe car parking in this area?
Drivers can park down Slater Street, which is where we park in the afternoon.
In the morning my husband walks our son to school down Shirley Road.
But after school we drive down to pick him up, as he has autism and sensory processing disorder & all the “visual noise” can overwhelm him at the end of a long day, which can cause him to meltdown or run off.
It is not safe to try and turn right onto Shirley Road from this road, due to the amount of traffic in this area, with buses, entrance/exit to shopping centre on the corner of Shirley Road and Hills Road, and traffic coming from the small street between Hills Road and Shirley Road that the tyre centre is on.
Is it possible to have a map created to highlight parking areas available, to be handed out to drivers parking on the yellow lines & to be put in the school newsletter as a proactive way to deal with this issue?
Re: Community Travel Adviser
From my observations each day after school, drivers end up slamming on their brakes when the lights turn orange at the crossing, or running the red lights.
Is it possible to make the timing longer between orange to red for this set of lights crossing?
Our son can be very black & white with his thinking and when he sees the green walk sign, he starts walking.
Which is why even though he is nearly 10, I now hold his hand to make sure it is safe to start walking at the crossing.
If the timing was longer, a driver who is going to go through an orange light, will be through the crossing, before the green walk sign for the children crossing.
I would really appreciate a safety audit being undertaken.
We travel down Shirley Road from The Palms each day & see the different issues between Marshlands Road and Hills Road.
– Shirley Intermediate children walking/scootering on footpaths & biking
– Children running across Shirley Road to stand in the pedestrian crossings that are available down Shirley Road
– Buses pulling in and out of bus stops along Shirley Road (at peak times its not unusual to see two Oribter buses following each other, going in the same direction)
– Lack of signage on both sides of Shirley Road to indicate children crossing, lights, school zone (if you aren’t from this area, coming from The Palms direction, you don’t see there is a school coming up on the drivers right hand side)
– Drivers parking on the yellow broken lines block drivers view to lights crossing outside Shirley Primary School
– Drivers parking in the staff car park, are blocking the footpath when they exit the car park and are trying to turn on to Shirley Road
– Footpath from Shirley Primary School to Emmett Street, is overgrown with shrubs, so you end up having to walk single file & the footpath is sloping towards the gutter at an angle that makes it uncomfortable to walk on
– Drivers exiting the entrance driveway to the shopping centre on the corner of Shirley & Hills Roads
I know there is no easy fix to any of these issues, I appreciate your time & any help to make this a safer area.
Thanks,
Joanna Gould