Students’ “nerve-wracking dash” across dangerous St Peters crossing
Image: Students and parents at a rally calling for safety measures at a dangerous St Peters crossing. Photo: Supplied.
Start of school is usually a time of celebration, but for parents using the Campbell Street crossing at St Peters Public School, it’s also the beginning of another year of daily nerve-wracking dashes across four lanes of traffic to access the school.
On Tuesday morning, parents and children attended a rally to draw attention to an issue that the community has been campaigning to be fixed for years. St Peters Public School sits just one street back from a crossing close to the intersection of Princes Highway and Campbell Road.
“It’s busy and cars often dangerously speed through the intersection” says local Elliott Agnew, who worries about drivers hitting his children or other kids.
“I use a guide dog and I’m often stuck because cars try to run the red light and then queue up blocking the pedestrian crossing,”Agnew, who regularly takes his three young children across the intersection, said.
Primary school students, some as young as four, are forced to use this notoriously dangerous crossing that’s been repeatedly denied a dedicated school zone by the state government.
Dr Sarina Kilham, an independent running for Heffron in the upcoming state election, said that this was not the first time the community has spoken up on road safety at the Campbell Street crossing.
“Enough is enough,” Kilham said. “We need to provide a safe way for students to access their school. This is a local mess that’s been leftover by WestConnex and we need it fixed.”
Students involved in near-misses
While parents have known about the dangers of the intersection for years, issues with safety were exacerbated in 2021 when a car running a red light almost hit two school children. Two consecutive protests were held in 2021 and 2022 calling for safety measures to be installed.
More than 25 separate Crime Stopper reports with video evidence of trucks and vehicles driving through the red light at the crossing have been reported at the crossing. The school’s P&C and local residents have submitted multiple requests to Transport for NSW, the WestConnex Authority and government ministers since 2016 requesting a school zone.
Transport for NSW has rejected this request as Campbell Street does not have direct access to St Peters School. A Transport for NSW spokesperson said that NSW Speed Zoning Guidelines outline that only roads with “active direct access” to schools require school zones.
The spokesperson confirmed that all roads with direct access to St Peters Public School already have 40km/h zones enforced. Community members, however, have pointed out that other schools in the inner-city have schools zones on roads without direct access, such as Hawken Street in Newtown which is near Camdenville Public School.
However, Dr Kilham says that Campbell Street is an essential route for families travelling to and from the school. The St Peters Public School catchment extends backwards towards St Peters station, meaning many students arrive at the primary school via a route that includes the dangerous crossing.
