Constituency question: Bell Street crossing
My question today is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. Bell Street is a major road crossing east–west across the mid-northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has over 47 000 vehicles passing along it daily on average, making it one of Melbourne’s busiest roads. It is also home to Coburg High School, which students from Preston attend. Many of these students must walk through the Bell Street risk zone at the intersection of Bell, Elizabeth and Nicholson streets and across the Bell Street bridge over the Merri Creek to attend. There are no other pedestrian or road crossing points in the vicinity to access the school. This is an extremely dangerous spot, with the congestion of major intersections, narrow rough footpaths and no safety barriers or setbacks to make crossing the bridge on foot safer. There have been several near misses, with cars mounting the footpath, and one student was hit by a car in the area. Minister, what are the time line and budget for a risk assessment of the safety of students walking to Coburg High School through the Bell Street risk zone?