Zaneta Mascarenhas MP
Federation Chamber, Parliament House, Canberra
Constituency Statements
Sometimes, when engineers design roads, they do it without foreshadowing increases in traffic flows, and sometimes some intersections are problematic and are known as black spots. I'd like to recognise the safety initiative that the Keating Labor government introduced around black spots, realising that small, local fixes to our traffic problems can save lives.
Today I'd like to discuss three projects in the electorate of Swan that have been granted a total of $600,000 in black spot funding. These three projects are a part of 24 projects across Western Australia that are set to benefit from this program. Thanks to this program, $225,000 will go to the installation of traffic calming measures on the northern approach of the Marquis Street roundabout in Bentley. This is one of those big roundabouts near Curtin University. As a former Curtin student, I saw firsthand how backed up and chaotic that roundabout could become during peak hour traffic. Another $225,000 project is around restricting right-hand turns onto Lawson Street from Farnham Street in Bentley. This will stop risky right-hand turns across two lanes of traffic and ensure that people aren't waiting for a tiny gap in traffic on Manning Road before they can turn.
I wrote to my constituents to let them know about these foreshadowed improvements, and I'm pleased to see that locals are excited to see these upgrades. I've received several letters of thanks, and I'd like to comment on one from Isaac. Isaac has been living in Bentley for more than 15 years, and the Marquis Street roundabout intersection has been dangerous for all of that time, particularly between Mondays and Saturdays. For Isaac, the effect of this particular roundabout has been profound for his life. When he does school drop-off, he could do the five-minute quick way via the roundabout, which is actually quite dangerous, but instead he chooses to take a 15- to 20-minute detour to make sure that his kids get to school safely. This extra 20 to 30 minutes each school day will save Isaac up to 80 hours a year. This is more time with family, less fuel cost, less greenhouse gases and less traffic. I'd like to thank Isaac for his email. His story is a great example of how the Black Spot Program is working in my electorate. The Lawson Street intersection and the Marquis Street roundabout black spots are no more than 500 metres away from one another. I'm looking forward to the great work that Main Roads and the City of Canning do to work together to improve the safety and flow to and from Curtin University. There's also Rivervale, which has some great calming initiatives as well, on Kooyong Road and Francisco Street. This will help improve traffic flows near child care.
