TALK of future plans to turn Florida Road into a pedestrian-centred node were raised last week after social media became a platform for locals to vent their frustrations about speeding and lack of road safety following the tragic death of Gordon Road Girls pupil who was knocked down as she was crossing Florida Road on her way to school on Thursday morning.
Despite their being no indication that speeding was an issue in the tragedy which resulted in the death of the young girl, people called for authorities to act decisively against speedsters who use Florida Road as a race track.
Louis Jacobs, an eyewitness to the incident, said the problem of speeding in the road was ongoing. He said that he and two restaurant owners had almost been ‘taken out’ by speeding cars.
“There’s been talk for four years about putting speed bumps in the road, something needs to be done! There have been so many accidents and near misses. Metro Police based in the road can’t chase them on foot. I feel that, as in overseas countries, there should be a no under 25 limit on drivers of high performance cars. These youngsters race up and down the road in Ferraris, Maseratis and BMWs, dicing each other,” he said.
He said Enforce officers in the road had also spoken to him about the problem.
Responding on social media the community said cars raced up and down the road all the time. One resident said she had never seen speed traps or police pulling people over for speeding. “Even if there were pedestrian crossings, what percentage of drivers even bother to stop?” she asked.
Another resident of the road said people thought it was a race track. “I see and hear cars flying up and down daily, and evenings,” he said.
Responding to the incident, the Florida Road UIP team said property owners and businesses were deeply saddened by the tragic death of the young girl.
“As a result of a high concentration of restaurants, coffee shops and entertainment venues, Florida Road is a busy pedestrian node. Consequently a high traffic, four-lane road bisecting the precinct is unsuited to the nature of the node. For this reason in May this year Florida Road property owners, the City and the UIP began working together to revision the future for Florida Road as a pedestrian-centred node,” said Jarrod Evans, precinct manager.
He said despite the best intentions of this work, last week’s tragedy had highlighted the urgency not only of the re-planning of the road, but of implementing pedestrian-focused interventions such as planned traffic calming speed measures.
“The UIP acknowledges however, that these interventions do nothing for the family of this young girl and we express our deepest heartfelt condolences to the family.”
Ward councillor, Martin Meyer, said he was not against the idea of making the road a pedestrian node, however he felt it would not be good for residents of surrounding roads, such as Montpelier and Madelein Roads, as more cars would then be passing through and parking in these roads.”Residents already have enough problems with parking in the roads as there isn’t enough parking in the area as it is. I don’t feel this would be a viable option until infrastructure has been put in place,” he said.
Meyer said he felt there were not enough pedestrian crossings on Florida Road, as there was only one at present, at the Gordon Road intersection.
“There needs to be more pedestrian crossings, more traffic lights, such as at the intersection of Currie and Lambert Roads and traffic calming in the road. With two schools close by, Gordon Road Girls’ School and DPHS, we should look at a scholar patrol to help the children cross this busy road,” he said.
