Published on 17 January 2023

Safer return to school for Onkaparinga students

Students returning to school this month should be safer as a result of $434,000 in new and upgraded school crossings across Onkaparinga.

The six projects were completed by the City of Onkaparinga during 2021 and 2022 and range from compliance improvements to significant upgrades to address safety concerns at some sites.

Nine more upgrades totalling $460,000 are planned for completion by June.

A $120,000 project at Our Saviour Lutheran School on Park Avenue in Aberfoyle Park has reduced speeding near the school and now provides priority access for all pedestrians 24 hours a day.

Acting Principal Amanda McDonald said the school welcomed the upgrade.

“The school is opposite high-traffic areas including the Hub shopping centre, the oval and a hotel carpark. We had a serious problem with cars speeding, made worse by a corner near the crossing,” said Ms McDonald.

“The crossing was upgraded in 2021 from an emu crossing to a wombat crossing, replacing flags mounted on candy poles with a zebra crossing installed on a flat-top hump.

“Before that time, we had staff members overseeing the crossing every morning and afternoon to make sure our students were safe.

“Since the upgrade, we are having less trouble with speeding and no longer need to assign adults to watch the road.”

In addition to the installation of new crossings, the council identified a number of safety compliance projects in a 2021 audit of every school crossing in the council district.

“The audit discovered a range of features requiring action, such as kerb ramps that were not compliant with disability guidelines, missing footpath links and missing posts,” said Morgan Ellingham, Onkaparinga’s Assets and Technical Services Manager.

“Most of these non-compliant features were due to legacy issues – they were constructed prior to updates in standards. Other crossings were at the end of their serviceable lifetime.”

Funding for the projects is through the federal government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program, the state government’s Way2Go program and the City of Onkaparinga’s capital works budget.

Pictured

A new wombat crossing for Our Saviour Lutheran School students in Aberfoyle Park.