Two Rocks Road safety debated at residents meeting

DEBATE about safety on Two Rocks Road heated up at a recent residents’ meeting.

Two Rocks Yanchep Residents Association members debated whether fatal and serious crashes resulted from driver behaviour or the road conditions at their latest September 23 meeting.

Rumble strips were installed on the southbound approach to the roundabout at Templetonia Boulevard soon after the August meeting, when chairman Alex Figg said the road should qualify for black spot funding.

There have been five fatal crashes along it in the past six years, with seven people dying.

At the September 23 meeting, member Inga Price said safety issues resulted from driver behaviour, such as people speeding or overtaking on the undulating road.

“It’s not the road; it’s the people,” she said.

Another member Ed Whitchurch said the City of Wanneroo had a duty of care to improve the road conditions because innocent people’s lives were at risk.

“Because of the configuration of the road, you can’t see (oncoming cars) coming,” he said.

“It’s an old-style road; it needs re-doing.”

Ms Price said she understood there was more traffic but drivers should not attempt to overtake if it was not safe, bringing up an incident where someone overtook six cars behind someone travelling at 80km/h on the 90km/h stretch.

Mr Whitchurch said the problem was other drivers “don’t see those idiots coming”.

Wanneroo Deputy Mayor Natalie Sangalli said the City would do another traffic survey later this year to see if the rumble strips had helped reduce the average speed in the 60km/h section and ask Main Roads to consider reducing the 90km/h speed limit to 70km/h.

In response to comments about development along that stretch, Mr Whitchurch said it would not be built up for a long time and argued the road should be levelled out.

“It’s only 4km; if it saves a few lives, it’s worth it,” he said.

Cr Sangalli, who is up for re-election this month, said the location of underground services presented constraints to levelling the road.

Petition circulates for water tank murals

Secretary Lorraine Jackson provided an update on the water tanks mural project at the meeting and said they had been collecting signatures on a petition to show Water Corporation there was community support for the project.

Ms Jackson said the association would look into making a joint grant application to Lotterywest with the Two Rocks Yanchep Culture and Arts Network, and was looking at other funding sources, including council and federal grant programs.

Residents discussed the lack of a footpath to bus stops that the Public Transport Authority upgraded earlier this year to improve disability access and ongoing difficulty getting to it faced by residents from the nearby retirement village and aged care facility.

Cr Sangalli said the City had completed the design for the path and construction would start after an assessment about tree removal was done and was expected to finish by the end of October.

She also outlined reports Wanneroo Council was due to consider the following night, including one on reviewing the use of glyphosate to manage weeds in the City.

Members also discussed recycling, ‘welcome to Yanchep’ signs and the area’s tourism potential.