Staff and parents from the schools on Anchorage Drive north want the limit reduced from 80km/h to 60km/h between Rochester Drive and Quinns Road.
Helen Randall, from the Roadwise School Community Group, said they wanted Main Roads WA to permanently reduce the speed limit.
‘The zone we are talking about is located next to three schools and food outlets like McDonald’s,’ Mrs Randall said.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW‘Many children are crossing over Marmion Avenue to get to and from school and to McDonald’s. Pedestrians are facing 80km/h dangerous speeds and it’s only a matter of time before a pedestrian is run down.’
Mindarie Senior College student services manager Alan Kemp said the original town planning mistake was placing three schools together.
‘There’s something like 3000 students arriving and departing roughly at the same time,’ he said.
Mr Kemp said a bus dropped off 40 to 50 students on Marmion Avenue north of a pedestrian underpass, but they opted to walk over the road instead.
‘Two or three of our children have been mugged going through (the underpass) in the mornings ” kids are very reluctant to go through it,’ he said.
‘It’s also a couple of hundred metres the wrong way.’
Mr Kemp said while bypass lanes at the roundabout connecting Marmion and Hester avenues were great for motorists, it meant cars were travelling faster on Marmion Avenue, which was ‘deadly for students’.
Quinns Baptist College deputy principal Tamara Sanders said the school supported a lower speed limit.
‘All students from all schools in the area will benefit from a slower speed limit to improve safety for students and pedestrians,’ she said.
Peter Moyes Anglican Community School principal Julian Dowse said there was a need to increase safety for children.
‘Students are in and around Marmion Avenue at all times of the day, not just during the school zone times,’ he said.
‘The traffic density is only going to increase (and) there’s going to be more and more students all of the time in and around the area.’
Peter Moyes PS principal Rod Wood said the area was unique because of the three schools located near the dual carriageway and the fast food restaurants becoming a ‘popular mecca’ for students.
‘This traffic doesn’t seem to slow down ever, so it’s a constant problem,’ he said.
Read more here.