A speed limit change on Leakes Road has been met with disappointment from residents who are keen to know the details surrounding a larger scale upgrade.
This section is the on and off ramps to the Western Highway on Leakes Road in Rockbank – where, as reported by Star Weekly, residents have called for the installation of traffic lights.
The Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) is introducing a speed limit reduction to 50km/h, from 60km/h, along Leakes Road, from just north of Greenview Avenue to just before Woodlea Boulevard.
Community advocacy group Leakes Needs Lights has long called for temporary traffic lights as an interim safety measure at the intersection.
Founder Donna Southern said she felt disappointed to hear the news of the speed limit reduction, as she felt there has not been any community consultation or communication about timelines and where safety upgrades to the Leakes Road and freeway intersections sit in the proposed Western Freeway upgrade.
In March, the federal government committed $1 billion to upgrade the freeway, and according to a state government web page, detailed planning works are underway.
“We feel that dropping the speed limit … isn’t going to make any difference – especially during peak times when traffic is going to crawl anyway,” Ms Southern said.
“Some people have reported being rear-ended when they’re stationary.
“It’s more about people trying to cross from Leakes Road onto the freeway, so they’re using the freeway ramp and running the gauntlet to get across there … dodging traffic …trying to take unnecessary risks, and that’s where a lot of the accidents [happen].”
Ms Southern said she is aware of seven accidents attended by emergency services in October across this section of road and at the intersection of Leakes Road and Ian Cowie Way.
“We want action … and we just feel like we’re continuing getting fobbed off by [The Department of Transport and Planning]… they’re not taking our situation seriously,” Ms Southern said.
“We are just in the dark about when [the Western Freeway upgrade] is even going to be … it could be six months, it could be six years down the track … we just don’t know.”
Ms Southern said there are limited alternative routes residents can take to bypass the section of road.
A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said safety is always the department’s number one priority.
The state government did not respond to Ms Southern’s comments regarding a lack of detail around the potential Western Freeway upgrade timeline.
