Parents petition for safety measures at dangerous drop-off spot outside Newtown Public School

By ERIN MODARO

Parents from Newtown Public School are calling on the state government and the City of Sydney Council to urgently upgrade street safety in the busy streets surrounding the primary school. A petition to increase safety at a popular drop-off spot on Whitehorse Street in Newtown is steadily gaining signatures.

The petition comes after a near fatal road accident involving a child occurred at the location.

“In light of a near fatal accident involving a child, we call on the City of Sydney Council to urgently improve the pedestrian safety of Whitehorse Street, off King Street,” the petition reads.

President of the P & C at Newtown Public School, Helen Paterson, told City Hub that on busy 9am mornings the drop-off area on Whitehorse street is “chaos”.

Paterson said the “dead-end” road is “madness” as cars drop children off and need to do a u-turn to exit the no-through road.

“It’s not safe” she said. 

Parents are are calling for the footpath on Whitehorse street to be widened, as well as the construction of a ‘kiss and ride’ drop-off spot where parents can safely let their children out of cars and into school. They also call for powerlines to be moved underground.

“It would be possible to make that footpath wider and have a kiss and ride spot” Paterson said.

City of Sydney Councillor urges council and government to take action

The dangerous nature of the intersection has been investigated for several years, as in 2019 line marking and enforced parking controls were introduced following a safety audit by the City of Sydney council.

A site visit was later conducted by Transport for NSW, City staff and and the principal of Newtown Public School in February of 2020, which determined that the location was in dire need of safety mitigations, including widening the footpath.

In March of 2020, Cr Scott submitted a motion to council to address the safety concerns, which passed unanimously.

The motion noted the “numerous serious incidents” that occurred at the intersection.

“Parents of Newtown public schools have been raising safety concerns with the state government and the City of Sydney for years” Cr Scott said. 

However, two years later, parents are still campaigning for adequate safety measures to materialise.

Cr Scott agreed that council and government “urgently” need to take action on widening the Whitehorse Street footpath.

“It is well overdue for public spaces to be made more pedestrian friendly and safer for our children.”

The petition currently has almost 400 signatures.