Safe school access

A NEW acceleration slip road is to be built to allow vehicles exiting a major school a more convenient and safer passage towards Busselton.

The Minister for Transport and Vasse MLA Troy Buswell inspected the site, at the junction of St Joseph’s Drive and Bussell Highway last Friday with the principal of Georgiana Molloy Anglican School and senior students.

The State Government has earmarked $700,000 for the project in this year’s budget.

“Georgiana Molloy as a campus has grown in student numbers since the school was built,” Mr Buswell said.

“There has always been issues about the entry and exit on to Bussell Highway. A number of years ago they were able to get the speed limit reduced from 110kmh to 90kmh but with the growth of the school and the number of school buses in the afternoon trying to turn left and head into Busselton is difficult and dangerous – not only for the school community but also for the residents of Provence.

“What we will be doing is investing $700,000 to put in a left turning slip or acceleration lane, which means it will be a lot easier and a lot safer for vehicles leaving Georgiana Molloy and Provence at any time, but in particularly to get on to the highway and back into town. They can turn left, they can accelerate and they can merge into the traffic.

“The school community has been asking us to make this investment for some time and I think it is a positive outcome not only for the school community but the Provence community as well.”

Principal Ted Kosicki welcomed the move.

“It is a fantastic safety initiative for us and the school community. We are investing $200,000-odd into car park upgrades to make sure that the traffic flows evenly out on to Bussell Highway and in particular for the bus drivers and the kids on the buses, so they can get out on to the driveway without worrying about the congestion – we find – particularly on Fridays and long weekends which are a real problem for us here.”