24-01-2023
Five schools across the Upper Lachlan Shire will start the year with raised “wombat crossings” in front of their schools.
The project to complete the wombat crossings and associated work across the Shire, managed by Council and performed by contractors, has been underway across the Christmas School Holidays. As at the time of writing, the various crossings were at different stages of preparation with all expected to be completed in time for the new school year.
The five schools – Collector Public School, Crookwell Public School, St Mary’s Catholic School, Crookwell, Gunning Public School and Taralga Public School – are among 19 in the Goulburn electorate that shared in more than $6,980,000 for vital work to improve safety in school zones as part of the $40.8 million School Zone Infrastructure Sub Program.
At the time of the announcement in May 2022, Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman said the School Zone Infrastructure Sub Program is helping keep school children in the region even safer as they travel to and from school by delivering improvements key improvements to schools around the electorate.
“The Australian and NSW Governments are committed to helping to improve safety around our schools,” she said.
“The projects in the Goulburn electorate are creating safer pedestrian connections for children, their parents and carers, and the school community. These schools will benefit from safety treatments such as footpaths, bus zones, flashing lights, wombat crossings and more.”
Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor said these projects would significantly improve safety as well as renewing local infrastructure at schools.
“These upgrades will improve infrastructure for school pedestrians and provide better traffic management in our school zones, ultimately saving lives and supporting jobs on the ground,” Mr Taylor said.
The original scope of works for each included:
Collector Public School: bus drop off/ pick up Zone, line marking, raised pedestrian ‘wombat’ crossing.
Crookwell Public School: raised pedestrian ‘wombat’ crossing.
St Mary’s Catholic School: raised pedestrian ‘wombat’ crossing, lighting upgrades.
Gunning Public School: Improve bus pick up / drop off zone, signage and various line marking, installation of raised pedestrian ‘wombat’ crossing.
Taralga Public School: signage, line marking, crossing, flashing lights, car park bays, speed zone 40km/h pavement patches.