One Burnside Village neighbour’s battle to stop cars driving the wrong way down his street
Residents in an eastern suburbs street are battling an average 26 cars a day driving the wrong way down their street – and one man is sick of the threats and abuse from drivers.
Stephen Merrett has lived in Almond Avenue for 40 years, and the Glenside resident says he is constantly battling to stop drivers from travelling the wrong way down the one-way street and has endured frequent abuse.
He claims the number of incidents with drivers accessing the newly expanded Burnside Village is on the rise as Almond Avenue runs alongside the centre, with Merrett stepping up his campaign to stop an “accident waiting to happen”.
“I’ve had someone just drive by and raise a finger, smiling,” Merrett told InDaily, adding that other neighbours in his street were enduring similar abuse.
“People have suffered verbal abuse and really nasty, threatening behaviour just because you don’t want to give way to someone that’s driving the wrong way down a one-way street that is clearly marked.
“It’s a street where people have lived for some time.”
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Merrett said issues on the street had been occurring for years, and in 2022 residents living on the street were successful in making it a one-way street as well as having a pedestrian crossing installed in a bid to make the small street safer.
Merrett, along with other residents, had since pushed for the council to collect data that could substantiate their claims that cars were driving down the street the wrong way daily.
Data collected from the Burnside City Council and seen by InDaily showed that up to 34 cars were driving the wrong way down the street per day, with an average 26 cars.
“It’s a time bomb ticking away, hoping nothing nasty is going to happen, fearing driving into your own street, hoping you don’t encounter someone going the wrong way,” he said.
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Merrett claimed he had approached SA Police, SA Government Traffic Management, SA Police Norwood, RAA ‘Report A Road’, and local MP Jack Batty, only to be ignored and told to look for help elsewhere.
“Council have made it clear that we’ve done the signage. We don’t do traffic law staff, that’s the police. Eighteen months ago, I went down that channel of contacting the police, they said, contact your Neighbourhood Watch,” he said.
“So that’s sort of just drifted into despair, and then it’s been a build-up over the recent months,” with the redevelopment of Burnside Village, he said.
“The redevelopment was over and done with a month or two ago, and it’s not getting better. If anything, it’s getting worse.”
Despite his constant attempts to bring attention to the issue, Burnside Mayor Anne Monceaux said she had never been notified of any traffic issues on that street.
“I’ve had complaints about speed and parking, but none about cars going the opposite direction, so I’m not aware of this complaint,” Monceaux said.
Merrett said a simple fix would be to install traffic cameras on the street.
“It would act as a deterrent and have consequences for those that repeatedly break the law,” he said, adding that “it would be a nice little revenue raiser for the state as well.”
“I have the perhaps naive view that we pay our rates, council is there to look after our interests, and it’s been like pulling teeth,” he said.
Both SAPOL and the Burnside City Council have been contacted for comment.
