Eurobodalla Shire Council decided in 1994 to ban Caroll College students from travelling to school via bike or on foot. Photo: Google Maps.
A South Coast council has been asked to relax travel restrictions around a Broulee school.
Students at Carroll College, in the Eurobodalla, have been blocked from walking or cycling to and from school, after a more than three-decade-old decision by Eurobodalla Shire Council (ESC).
Council meeting documents state the ban was made in August 1994, after multiple groups raised concerns about the then-100 km/h speed limit and the lack of pedestrian infrastructure in the area.
The school is seeking to overturn it at the next meeting.
In a letter to ESC, seen by Region, Carroll College principal Andrew Kenneally argued it would improve student health and ease congestion on nearby roads.
“The purpose of this trial is to support safe, active, and sustainable travel options for our students while also alleviating pressure on existing bus services and peak-time traffic congestion around the college,” he wrote.
“Under the proposed arrangement, students will be permitted to walk or ride bicycles to and from school using this access point. As part of the trial, the college will implement a comprehensive student safety and traffic management plan, developed to ensure the wellbeing of students and other road users.”
The letter says it would start with a trial period this year.
Students would be banned from using e-bikes and other motorised devices during the trial.
On Friday (20 March), assistant principal John Brady told ABC South East NSW Local News that the school felt improvements to the road networks since then had made it safer for students.
“Most recently, there’s been a roundabout put in at Broulee Road and George Bass Drive, which has a pedestrian refuge,” Mr Brady told the program.
“We’re seeing, in the short term, council permission for students to walk or ride to Carroll College using that pedestrian refuge.”
Council papers state that the roundabout is about 630 metres south of the school’s entrance.
The documents also point to the speed limit in George Bass Drive having been dropped to 80 km/h (or 40 km/h during school times), and a connection from Train Street that has been installed since the 1994 decision.
“From Train Street, these students would need to travel approximately 1.4 km (being 630 m past the school) to get to the pedestrian refuge to cross George Bass Drive at the safest possible location. The desire would be for these students to cross opposite the school.
“Managing this issue would be key to implementing safe cycle/pedestrian access to the college.”
Ultimately, the documents suggest a “more formal demarcation” pathway, which would (at least) run from the school to the roundabout.
“It is recommended that more discussions be held with the school to facilitate lodgement of a successful application under the Roads Act,” the document states.
The request is expected to be discussed at the council’s meeting on Tuesday (24 March).
“The resolution also approved Stage 1 [of the facility], subject to conditions of consent,” meeting documents state.
“The prohibition of access by cycle or pedestrian [methods] was not a condition of consent.”
If approved, the trial would start during Term 2 and run until the end of the school year, with the school to maintain a grass pathway on the western side of George Bass Drive from the school to the roundabout at Broulee Road.
The college would also install signs to raise motorists’ awareness and have dedicated supervision before and after school, according to its proposal.
The next ESC meeting will be held on Tuesday (24 March) from 2 pm. You can find the meeting documents or livestream it through the council’s website.
