School crossing welcomed

By KATH GANNAWAY
WESBURN resident Jeanette Banks has welcomed news that a school crossing will be erected in Riversdale Road, Yarra Junction.
The crossing will service the Upper Yarra Secondary College on the corner of Riversdale Road and Little Yarra Road which was recently funded for a school crossing.
Mrs Banks said she had been campaigning for the crossing for 11 years following the death of a friend’s sixyearold daughter on the road in 1994.
She said the Shire of Yarra Ranges contacted her last week with the good news.
“I got a call to say that council had agreed that Riversdale Road did need a school crossing and that they are giving it to us,” she said.
Shire of Yarra Ranges community relations manager James Martin confirmed a feasibility study had indicated a crossing was needed.
He said the council had allocated funding in this year’s budget to construct a school crossing on Little Yarra Road and that it was looking at constructing the Riversdale Road crossing using available funds.
“We are optimistic of being able to achieve this, however, it will depend on the amount of money we have left over from the Little Yarra Road crossing,” he said.
However, he said there was an outside chance funding may have to come from next year’s budget but gave an assurance that the council would be making every effort to construct the crossing this year.
Upper Yarra Secondary College principal Brian Lay said he had not been advised of the second crossing.
“The Little Yarra Road crossing is certainly very much appreciated by the school and by the school families but we have not heard of the proposal for Riversdale Road.
“We would prefer to wait to find out exactly what is proposed before commenting,” he said.