PEDESTRIAN safety along black-spot ridden Hampton Road is once again under scrutiny after a pedestrian crossing was flattened by a car last week.
Two people have died near the intersection of Hampton and Duoro Roads, including an 81-year-old man who was killed by a truck while trying to cross in 2022.
There have been 179 car crashes at intersections along Hampton Road since 2019, according to Main Roads.
Eight of these intersections are known Black Spots.
• Hampton Road’s unenviabled safety record is in the spotlight again after a car wiped out the newish pedestrian crossing. Photo by Julie Murphy
Local community group Friends of Hampton and Ord are calling for the speed limit along the residential area south of South Street to be reduced from 60kph to 50kph, and a 40kph limit to be introduced in the stretch in front of the Peaches and IGA shopping centres.
They also want pedestrian walk signals to be installed at two points along Hampton, at South Street and Peaches, as well as the removal of the bus lane in favour of protected bike lanes.
The Public Transport Authority confirmed there are “currently no plans” to scrap the bus lane, despite the fact that three children have been injured by cars in the lane while trying to cross the road near Beaconsfield Primary School.
The Beaconsfield Primary P&C says there have been “at least 130 near misses” at the pedestrian crossing at Scott Street in the last 12 months, from within the school community alone.
The P&C will be hosting a meeting with Fremantle mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge and state Labor MP Simone McGurk on Friday, August 23, to address the road’s safety issues.
Friends of Hampton and Ord organiser Julie Murphy says residents have campaigned for local and state governments to help mitigate the “treacherous piece of road” for almost a decade, with very little action.
“There’s a feeling of getting handballed from one government agency to another,” Ms Murphy said.
“It doesn’t seem to matter that it’s been kicking around, various levels of government for at least eight years and a definitive solution still hasn’t been put in place.”
Ms Murphy says the lack of action is “constant history repeating itself” and residents would like to see “tangible changes” made before anyone else is injured.
“It’s not rocket science, and it’s not like this problem has never occurred anywhere in the world before,” Ms Murphy said.
“There’s a lot of what they call ‘safe systems approaches’ could be made down there.”
A City of Fremantle spokesperson said the council “shares the concerns of the community” and will “continue to support” the Beaconsfield P&C’s campaign for a safer road.
Ms McGurk says it is the council’s responsibility to investigate whether the bus lane should be scrapped, but highlighted the work the WA government had already done to make Hampton a safer place for pedestrians and residents.
“We have achieved some definite improvements, including the establishment of a guard-controlled children’s crossing, speed reduction [north of South Street], line marking, and the inclusion of a school traffic zone, to the crossing on Hampton Road,” Ms McGurk said.
“This week’s meeting is an opportunity to consider the research and consultation that has been done since these measures were agreed.”
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER