By Laura Michell
Brookfield resident Kylie Blaszczyk fears a roundabout planned for Clarkes Road, which will take up the whole frontage of her property and require her to reverse her car out of her driveway into the roundabout each time she leaves home, is an accident waiting to happen.
Ms Blaszczyk said council did not notify her of the planned roundabout and that the first time she heard about it was on June 13, when she received a flyer from Winslow Constructions.
She said her driveway will exit into the middle of the roundabout. To the left of the driveway is a school crossing. The roundabout will also act as an entry to Brookfield Primary School.
“I will … be backing out of my driveway into a roundabout, looking to my left to watch for cars entering the roundabout,” Ms Blaszczyk said.
“This road is already very busy in the morning due to it being the main road into Brookfield Acres and the kindergarten at the end of the road. How busy will it be when you add it as the main school entry and make it the entrance to the new estate? How will I back out safely with this kind of traffic?
“When I am backing out, looking to my left for cars, , I will also be contending with pedestrians accessing the school crossing very close to my driveway on my right. I cannot look both ways at once .. I am greatly concerned that I will either have an accident when backing into the roundabout or hit a pedestrian with my car whilst backing out as I cannot possibly look both ways at once, especially with how busy that area will be.”
Ms Blaszczyk said her elderly father, who lives with her, is refusing to drive out of their house once the roundabout is built amid fears he will hit a car or a pedestrian
She is calling for council to consider building a service lane to separate driveways from the roundabout.
A council spokesperson said residents were notified of the works.
The spokesperson also said that it was “common practice” across Melbourne for driveways to enter T-section roundabouts.
“Council does not believe the proposed design would have any adverse safety outcomes and traffic modelling from traffic engineers demonstrate safe manoeuvring is enhanced by the addition of the roundabout,” the spokesperson said.
