Minister David Michael, Jimmy Murphy (co-founder Town Teams), Peter Woronzow (Director General Transport), Lisa Baker (MLA), Adrian Warner (RSC Commissioner), Karen Chappel (President of WALGA), Ben Kent (Inglewood on Beaufort Town Team member).
Beaufort Street in Inglewood is slowing down - but at the same time, has become more active.
Originally slated to be a six-lane highway, local action has resulted in the busy street’s speed limit dropping from 60 km/h to 40 km/h.
'Traffic used to speed through this area and pedestrians used to dodge traffic,' said Inglewood local, Ben Kent. 'Town Teams gave us confidence that, as a community, we could make positive change to slow down traffic. Now people travel to the area, not just travel through.'
Town Teams is an organisation supporting WA communities to take positive action to reduce speed and speeding in their local towns and neighbourhoods. Making streets safer, more people friendly and vibrant.
Today the Minister for Road Safety, Hon. David Michael, announced a $5 million investment over three years in the Town Team Movement’s ‘Streets Alive’ project.
'Thousands of people’s contributions have brought us to this moment, it is a moment of joy,' said Town Teams Co-founder Jimmy Murphy. Jimmy thanked the Road Safety Commission who were the first government agency to get behind Town Teams.
As part of the ‘Streets Alive’ project, $5,000 seed grant opportunities will be made available as soon as next month. Grant opportunities of $50K - $100K for local governments and community groups are expected to be announced in May.
The announcement took place in Inglewood, where residents and businesses have recently welcomed the City of Stirling’s decision to make permanent a 40km/h speed limit along a busy section of Beaufort Street. The decision followed a two-year trial that found that by lowering the speed limit from 60km to 40km during busy periods, the number of crashes was reduced by 48 per cent. Serious injury crashes dropped from an average of eight to one per year.
Landscaping, seating, shade and street art were introduced to create a more people friendly environment and a petition organised. All these community initiatives helped make the case for the trial.
The Road Safety Commission is supporting Town Teams to help WA communities advocate for positive change in their neighbourhoods to deliver local road safety measures.
“There is no excuse for anyone to be killed or injured in built up areas,” said the Minister.
For more information about Streets Alive and how your community can access the grants to slow down your town check out the Streets Alive website.
